


Lost in a World (That Doesn't Exist)

by IgarashiSora



Series: What If? [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Apocalypse, Child Abuse, Emotional Support Cats, Five is bad at naming things, Fluff, Gen, I hope, Kinda gay in ch4 if you squint, Klaus Hargreeves & Eleven | Jane Hopper are best friends, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, NO INCEST BTW K THANKS, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Oneshot collections, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Precious Eleven | Jane Hopper, Protective Eleven | Jane Hopper, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Reginald is a whole dick, ST3 is against my religion, Self-Indulgent as all hell, Will Byers Needs a Hug, Will add tags as I go, and Robin being her funky lesbian self, and Steve in a sailor uniform, and so does El ngl, don't beat your kids with canes, don't blame them they have to share the one braincell between them all, he deserves so much love and attention, hurt but with lots of comfort, including himself, like THEY ARE, my poor baby will, no ships so far, not romantic - Freeform, only el being her own person, there is no Starcourt tomfoolery in this household, this is pure, we are out here to love ALL of these dumbasses, why bash when you can hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2019-11-23 12:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18152159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IgarashiSora/pseuds/IgarashiSora
Summary: Just a few little oneshots surrounding crossover ideas between Stranger Things and Umbrella Academy. Mostly (so far) about El, Five, and/or Klaus in different situations/encounters with people from either world. If I find enough inspiration (and if enough people like the idea), I'll probably make a longer version of some of them.Chapter 1: Rather than the Demogorgon, Eleven encounters Five in the Bath, and together they become a little less alone.Chapter 2: Eleven can astral project to an extent that transcends her own dimension. Klaus just believes 'Ellie' is a ghost. They become best friends.Chapter 3: Five finds himself in the Upside Down. He and Will, another unfortunate soul, learn to survive together.Chapter 4: The Hargreeves stop the apocalypse the first time around, and the Byers-Hoppers decide two rounds with the Upside Down were two too many. Five meets El and Will at school. They've all got problems of their own, but they help each other through them.





	1. This is the Road to Ruin (We're Starting at the End)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleven doesn't know where she is. She also doesn't know where she's going. What she _does_ know, is that the confused, scared boy next to her is the only other person around, and she really, _really_ doesn't want to travel in this strange, scary place by herself. Eleven doesn't have a clue where the boy might be heading, but she still wonders if (hopes) he has room for one more ~~troubled~~ soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The full length/multichapter version of this fic is now up; the link is [right here.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18414743/chapters/43616036)

_When Eleven woke up, she knew that wherever she was, her life had been irrevocably changed forever._

* * *

It started with the bath.

Just the week before, Eleven was told to reach in as far and deep as she could, to find something- _what,_ she didn't know, but Papa told her to look as hard as she could, so she did. She found a monster.

In her fear, she recoiled, and was pulled out of the Empty, screaming and crying and banging on the glass of the tank until they were forced to drag her out. The disappointment, the cold, empty anger in her Papa's eyes filled Eleven with a blistering, stabbing wave of shame. But she was too terrified to try again that night, even if it was for Papa ~~(It was getting harder to do anything 'for papa')~~. Needless to say, he had some uniformed men drag her back to the Box, kicking and screaming as she begged Papa to give her _just one more chance, she'll be good, she promises-_

Papa came back for her the next day, the stark, buzzing white light of the hallway filling the Box as he stood by the entrance.

"Are you ready to try again, Eleven?" He asked, as if she truly had a choice.

Eleven might be able to say yes or no, but in the end, no meant another day in the Box, another day without food or water or anything else. So, really, they both knew there wasn't a _real_ choice. Eleven supposed it must be worth something that he at least bothers to ask.  ~~(It's not.)~~ Still, she nods, a fractional inclination of the head, as she shakily stands.

"Good." He says simply. They return to the tank.

* * *

"Today, is a very special day. Because today, we make history." Papa knelt to meet Eleven's eyes. "Today, we make contact." Papa explained calmly. Eleven's brows furrowed.

"Contact?" Her voice was quiet, shaky, hoarse from lack of both proper use and confidence. Papa nodded.

"I want you to reach out to the monster." A bone-chilling sense of dread settled in her spine, stopping her heart and her lungs. Her large eyes went wider in disbelief, too shocked and afraid to speak.

"Eleven, I want you to do this for me. Am I clear?" It was apparent that Papa noticed her reaction. His steady, frosty tone turned freezing as he looked her dead in the eyes. Eleven stayed still for a moment before slowly, as if against her own will, she nodded.

"Yes, papa." she murmured.

It was time to get into the tub, and as per usual, they put her headgear on before slowly lowering her into the tank. Eleven met her papa's eyes one last time before the waters claimed her.

* * *

She opened her eyes and was greeted by the darkness. Shaking off the instinctive fear that gripped her heart, Eleven crept forwards, searching for the monster. She didn't want to do this. Why was she doing this again? A soft voice echoed in the back of her head, _'for papa'_.

Right.

But was that really enough?

Of course it is, a part of her chided. ~~(A part of her that wasn't as strong as it used to be.)~~

 

....Right?

 

Eleven didn't want to contemplate how unsure she's become. She was being bad for doubting papa.

 

 

....

 

 

Right?

 

Before she could come to her own answer, Eleven was pulled from her musings by the sound of tearing flesh. Her heart stopped when she laid her eyes on the Thing she'd been scared off by the day before. It was hunched over, its head stuck into its food as it tears it apart with its teeth. The sounds were absolutely gruesome, and as she slowly approached, Eleven couldn't help but wish she was anywhere- _anywhere_ \- but there. She was hesitantly raising a hand to it, leaning in to touch its slimy-looking back, when she heard something.

- _ello?!_

Eleven froze. In front of her, the monster kept eating, unbothered by the interruption. After a few seconds of silence, Eleven shook it off and forced herself to raise her hand towards the creature again.

_Hello?!_

Eleven stopped again. What was that?

She was so focused on the sounds that she didn't even realize as she turned away from the monster and it faded away back into the Empty. Unconsciously, as if being slowly reeled in by a string, Eleven found herself walking away from the Thing and towards the voice.

_-anya? Ben? Dad?_

Suddenly, just up ahead, something materialized. Eleven made her way to it, a little quicker than she did when approaching the monster. She got close and recognized it as a person. It was a boy, perhaps the most shocking thing about him being that he looked to be around her age. Eleven has never met anyone her age before. The boy looked scared, looking around frantically, and for a moment Eleven thought he might be able to see the Empty too, but he seemed to be reacting to things she couldn't see, choking on his own words when he lays his eyes on something that wasn't in the Empty.

He was dressed funny, too. Kind of like papa and some of his friends, but his pants were cut short and his jacket was opened to reveal a strange diamond-patterned top _(she didn't know this yet, but it was called a sweater vest)_. His socks were also very, very long. He looked close to tears.

_Anybody?!_

He wailed, face twisted in dismay. And Eleven- her hand, unconsciously stretching out to him, stopped for a second, and- well.

 _She_ was 'anybody', wasn't she?

With a strong wave of more courage than she's ever had in her entire life, Eleven made contact.

* * *

The reaction was instant.

The boy jerked, head whipping to the side to face her, but seeing through her. Eleven felt a tugging deep inside her, pulling at the unseen energy all around, harder, harder, until something burst. A wave of raw energy exploded, a ball so dense and volatile that Eleven couldn't contain it, could feel it burning and searing and so she let go of it with a scream. Distantly, in the normal world, Eleven could hear frantic screams among a cacophony of other sounds, and a violent tremor as she felt that same deep tugging snatch her again and yank on her. Eleven gave in, getting pulled into the current and falling through it. Unbeknownst to her at the time, she leaves Hawkins behind, along with papa and the only not-life she's ever known.

When the calm settles again and she awakens, it is to fire and dust and blowing wind. She's dizzy, and absolutely alone. Eleven stumbles for a moment and then begins wandering around this sad, barren wasteland. Maybe if she starts walking, she might find the boy.

She finds him surprisingly easily, collapsed on his knees and sobbing over what appears- at first- to be a pile of rubble. Eleven silently approached, and realized that within the pile of rubble was a group of (gone, very gone) people. The boy looked sad, so Eleven assumed he really must've cared for them. Lost in her thoughts, Eleven accidentally kicks a rock, the overbearing silence of the world around them amplifying the noise tenfold. The boy's head whipped around, sharp ~~(desperate)~~ eyes immediately latching onto Eleven's thin, small form. He sprung to his feet, stance guarded but also so, so relieved- he _wasn't alone._

"Who- who are you? What're you doing here- what happened?" He asked, words tumbling from his mouth in a rush, mind whirring a hundred miles a minute. He couldn't decide what to ask first, so it was as if his brain's answer was to just throw them all out at once. Eleven recoiled, bewildered and wary due to both circumstance and the sudden barrage of questions. The boy seemed to notice this, and in an awkward and uncharacteristic act of gentleness, he back-tracked just a bit. He didn't want to scare off perhaps the only other person alive. ~~(The thought made a hint of bile rise in his throat. He swallowed it down.)~~

"I- I'm Five," he hedged. Eleven's gaze intensified. Five? A number, like- like _her?_ Was he like her? "What about you? What's your name?" Encouraged by his number-for-a-name, Eleven was able to find her voice.

"Eleven." She murmured, voice soft and breathy- she screamed a lot just earlier, so her throat hurts and she's kinda dizzy now, which didn't help. She shuffled forward cautiously, eyes trained on Five. She stopped when she was about a foot away.

"Eleven?" He asked. His gaze rested on her wet-suit, perhaps only picking up on it now that the adrenaline had mostly passed. Something clicked in his head as he did so. "Never figured there'd be more." Five muttered. Eleven didn't know what 'more' meant, unless he was perhaps talking about people with number-names? People like them? Then again, _was_ he like her at all?

"Are you- like me?" Eleven forced the words out of her mouth, nervous. She wasn't sure which answer she'd prefer- if he was like her, then did he escape his not-life too? Was she all alone, with no one else like her? Five eyed her calculatingly.

"Like you?" he asked. She nodded. Unable to properly express herself verbally, she resorted to brandishing her wrist, revealing the 011 stamped there in ink. Five's eyes widened, and slowly, keeping steady eye contact with Eleven, he grasped her wrist and pulled it closer. Eleven's heart pounded in her chest, awaiting his response. Eventually, Five lifted his other hand, pushing back the sleeve and settling his wrist next to hers for the both of them to see. Drawn carefully with deep black ink, right around the same area that Eleven's branding tattoo was, laid an umbrella with a circle around it. The thick-lined tattoo was nothing close to a number, but to Eleven this was enough evidence. This boy- Five- was like her. She might not be sure what the umbrella design was from, seeing as it wasn't his number-name, but she figured it must've been a Lab branding. Eleven looked up to see Five already watching her carefully.

"Like me," Eleven murmured. The corner of Five's lips curled upward, so quick and small Eleven thought she'd imagined it.

"Guess so."

* * *

"So, if you're not from here, then where are you from?" It'd been maybe a few hours since Eleven and Five met. They were in the middle of burying the bodies of Five's siblings _(Eleven rolled the word around in her mind. Family, Five had said, when asked to define it)_ when Five came around to the question. Throughout the conversation, Eleven had made it fairly clear that while she was a human, and from Earth, she wasn't from the  _same_ Earth; it was one of the few conclusions Five came to when she explained how she got to the apocalypse; a lot of vague wording that he gathered was due to her limited vocabulary and speech. Something about a tank and how she had to "make contact" with the monster "in the Empty". It was honestly one of the most outlandish explanations Five could've come around to, but considering he'd just _time-traveled_ into the apparent _apocalypse,_ a confirmation of the multiverse theory wasn't too big of a stretch at that point.

"Hawkins Lab." She said simply. Five mulled it over. He was pretty sure there weren't any towns or facilities by the name of Hawkins- not in this universe, anyway.

"Hawkins where? In which state?" She blinked at his question, brows furrowing in confusion.

"State?" And, wow, this girl must've never gotten an education. Five wondered if she'd ever even left this Hawkins before.

"Have- have you ever left this... Lab?" Eleven slowly shook her head, wondering why that was so surprising. Did he not live in a lab?

"Oh. Well, now that you have, we should probably work on that." Five seemed a bit desperate for conversation, likely to take his mind off the fact that he's suddenly become one of the last two people on Earth, but Eleven didn't mind as he rambled on and on. If anything, she was eager to hear what he had to say, words that for once weren't orders or reprimands. She was eager to hear all he could possibly tell her about the world- and boy was there a lot. Sometimes Eleven would get lost, unsure what many of the words he'd said meant, and while he could be a little impatient he was too grateful for the company to complain. Also, the wide-eyed wounded look she gave Five the first time he'd huffed at her reminded him quite a lot of Vanya, which made him tamp his attitude down some. He would never admit how it stabbed at his heart when he saw it, the desire to see his siblings threatening to overwhelm him.

Still, he wasn't alone, even if Eleven was very quiet and kind of eerie. Even if he had to backtrack fairly often and explain things to her. He wasn't alone, and that was enough for him.

* * *

Eleven still doesn't know where she is. She also still doesn't know where she's going. What she _does_ know is that the confused, scared boy next to her is the only other person around, and she really, _really_ doesn't want to travel in this strange, scary place by herself. Eleven doesn't have a clue where the boy might be heading, but she still wonders if (hopes) he has room for one more ~~troubled~~ soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, folks! I hope you've enjoyed it, because I enjoyed writing it! I'm planning on making this a collection of one-shots, but I don't mind writing a follow-up piece every now and then. I just really want to see more Stranger Things and Umbrella Academy crossovers. I feel like they could be really interesting!
> 
> I might turn this into a series of random one-shots from different fandoms, but since I don't want to tack on a bunch of fandom tags, I'll make it a series and not one large fic. And to those of you who are from my PJO fic, I'm really sorry I haven't updated yet, it's just kinda hard ;-; but I promise I won't abandon it. I will continue on to the bitter end!
> 
> Also, anyone looking to follow my fic/writing progress, I have a [Tumblr account](http://igarashisora.tumblr.com/) that I sporadically update, feel free to check it out!


	2. A Vision with Nowhere to Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From a young age, Klaus was taught that his own ideas didn't matter- that his emotions, thoughts, and desires were unimportant, wrong, and a "distraction". He was told to tamp down on his sense of self- after all, it was of utmost importance that he fit the mold created by his Dad for all of his children to fill.
> 
> But someone helped him realize how wrong that was. They encouraged him to be better, to reach for what he wanted, to take what Reginald said with a grain of salt. They cheered him on the whole way through, was there when he needed someone the most. They would get him out of his mind, when he couldn't bare to be in it anymore. They were one of his most dearly loved people. In return, Klaus became one of theirs.
> 
> or 
> 
> For a long time, Klaus had believed Ellie was a ghost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for anyone wondering, my little emo heart from middle school is still sitting around the back of my head, hence why the last chapter title was from a Fall Out Boy song and this one from Panic! At the Disco. I'm thinking of making this a thing for this fic, just naming all the chapters after random lines in songs from emo/alternative bands.

From as far back as he could remember, Klaus had a ghost for a best friend.

Her name was Ellie, short for Elise, formerly Eleven, and she understood him better than anybody. She was also an absolute secret.

Klaus first met her when he was four, in both age and name. He was playing with blocks in the playroom after training when a pair of thin, pale legs knelt in front of him on the other side of his block tower. Four looked up, coming face-to-face with large, curious brown eyes and soft blonde curls like a halo around her head. Being four years old, he found nothing strange about the fact that she was in the house, despite never seeing her before.

"Hello." he greeted amicably. She blinked at him, seemingly surprised by his presence. Around him, his siblings were pursuing their own forms of entertainment. Like One and Two, who were aggressively beating each other with toy swords, Three who dragged Six and Seven into playing house, and Five, who actually wasn't there but was instead in the library, already determined to read (his fascination at the time was nonfiction picture books). Needless to say, they were all far too preoccupied with their own activities to notice Four talking to what appeared to be thin air.

"Hello." The little girl echoed. Four continued stacking his blocks. What he _really_ wanted to do was play dress-up, but Dad told him that that was apparently a "frivolous and inappropriate" thing to do, especially "for a young boy who will one day help save the world" and other such things that the young child didn't understand. Apparently, stacking blocks was an approved use of his time, as it helped him with "balance and mathematics" and even more things Four couldn't care less about. Four hoped this girl could provide him with a much better source of entertainment.

"Do you wanna play with me?" He asked. The girl nodded, her straw blonde hair bobbing along with her.

"Sure." She replied. So Four abandoned the blocks and led her to the large plastic chest in the corner of the room, pulling out a whole box of chalk. Blocks were more of a single-player activity, in Four's opinion.

"Hopscotch!" Four exclaimed, by way of explanation. The little blonde next to him didn't seem to care, but she also didn't know what hopscotch was. Four led her outside to the asphalt, drawing shaky blocks on the ground. He went first to show her how to play, and she quickly picked it up. And so they played hopscotch for the remainder of Four's free time, until it was time for dinner. When Four invited her to come with, she simply frowned, looking up at the sky for a second.

"I have to go." she said. Four reluctantly bid her a farewell, and in the blink of an eye she was gone. Four, in true four-year-old fashion, left for dinner without ever once realizing that he never asked for her name.

* * *

Throughout the years, Four would see her frequently. For a while, he actually believed that she was an imaginary friend, as she seemed to age with him and disappear whenever it was convenient. Plus, none of his siblings could see her, and he'd find her in his dreams more often than in his waking hours. Seeing as he'd met her at an age in which the line between fantasy and reality barely even existed, Four didn't even trip up at the thought of her not being real. It was only after he awakened his powers that he began to wonder about whether or not she actually _was_ real; real and dead.

He'd even asked her this, at one point. "How'd you die?" a six-year-old Four had queried. His best friend looked utterly confused.

"Die?" Four nodded.

"Yeah. How'd you die?" He assumed it was some sort of illness or the like, as Four had found that usually those that died due to external reasons (like murder) often still displayed their grisly appearances in the afterlife. Like the ghost near that one revolutionary war museum exhibit, with so many holes in his torso he'd looked like Swiss cheese.

Still, she seemed unable to answer his question, appearing awfully befuddled. Four came to the conclusion that not all ghosts knew they were dead. Therefore, he simply shrugged and changed the topic. They played dress-up and all other sorts of things in his dreams, and he would talk to her whenever she'd appear around him in his waking hours. Four decided that his best friend was simply a special ghost, unlike any other. No other ghost carried a strange, electric energy with them, this weird static-y buzz that ran through the air whenever she came around. She was just special.

* * *

"Y'know, I just realized something." Upon hearing Four's voice, his best friend looked up at him from the book they were reading together. "I don't know your name. What is it?" She stared for a second, as if it also hadn't dawned on her until that moment that they never introduced themselves.

"Eleven." Four blinked. Huh. Maybe Reginald wasn't the first guy to get the idea to number his kids, then, seeing as Eleven was likely born before him. Actually, it made sense- she could interact with him in his dreams and all other interesting stuff like that, so maybe that was something she was able to do in life?

"I'm Four." He smiled, and Eleven tentatively smiled back.

* * *

"Ellie, Ellie, Ellie!" Four called out excitedly. He bounced up and down on his bed as Ellie (a nickname both Four and Eleven had taken quite the shining to) watched on in amusement.

"Yes?" she replied. Four finally stopped bouncing, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and leaving them there.

"Guess what?" He asked this despite not leaving her room to answer, too thrilled to tell her the news. "We're picking names today, Ellie!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. Ellie blinked.

"Names?"

Four nodded frantically. "Yeah, names! Like Matthew or Rachel or Erin- names! For ourselves! Mom said we could!"

"Oh," Ellie said. "Then what will you pick?" Four grinned, pulling out a slip of paper.

"That's where you come in- take a look! I wanna know which one you like best." Ellie scanned the list of names that Four picked out. Among them were weird ones, like 'Chanel' or 'Prada', but there were some less-weird ones too, like Étienne, which was apparently from a language called 'French'. Finally, Ellie pointed at one of them.

"This one." she said. Four looked at it.  


"Klaus?" He asked. She nodded in confirmation. Four had a large, toothy smile on. "Klaus it is!" He flung the paper away somewhere and danced around as Ellie giggled. Suddenly, Klaus stopped and gasped.  


"Oh, Ellie! How rude of me! I never asked- would you like a name, too? We can give you one!"

Ellie paused. "But, isn't it Ellie?"

Klaus shook his head. "It _can_ be, if you'd like, but it doesn't have to be. It's really just a nickname, so if you want a real name too you can pick one." She thought about that for a second. Eventually, she nodded.  


"Okay."  


And so they spent the next week skimming through name books and even leftover names from Allison's and Vanya's lists, until they finally settled on one that Ellie felt very satisfied with. And thus, Ellie was no longer short for Eleven, but for Elise.  


* * *

 An eight-year-old Klaus snuck into his sister's bedroom after curfew as stealthily as possible. Allison was in the bathroom, giving Klaus a very small window of time to get in, find what he wanted, and get back out as quickly as possible. He dug under the bed a bit frantically, as he left the light off in case Allison came back while he was still inside and knew something was up. His hand caught onto a plastic handle and his heart soared. Klaus rolled out from under his sister's bed.

"Ellie," Klaus hissed. "How's it looking?" Ellie poked her head into the room- a bit unnerving, considering she literally just stuck her head right through the door- and whispered,

"All clear."

Klaus grinned. "Awesome." The duo then made their way back to Klaus' room as quickly and quietly as eight-year-olds sneaking around could- which is to say, not at all. At least, not on Klaus' part.

Upon their return, Klaus leaned against the door, heart pounding in his chest as he clutched his precious cargo like a lifeline. His arms were wrapped around the box tightly. He waited to regain his breath, hearing Allison return from the bathroom and head back to her room. He turned to his side where Ellie stood beside him, leaning against the door as if she, too, was left breathless from their  little heist. They locked eyes before falling into a quiet fit of giggles.  


Klaus locked the door and they both sat on his bed, Ellie staring at the stolen item inquisitively. "What is it?" She asked. Klaus grinned mischievously.

"This, my dearest Ellie, is a _makeup_ set." He opened it up in a slow, theatrical manner, feeling as if he was Indiana Jones uncovering some priceless treasure. Ellie leaned in to get a better look as Klaus examined it in all its glory.

Being a children's set, the makeup kit wasn't actually that impressive. It had a small set of glittery safe-to-consume lip glosses, cream eyeshadows, blushes, and a mirror. There were a few brushes, most having been used recently by Allison. Still, to eight-year-olds, this was the holy grail of cosmetics, a luxury few could ever be blessed enough to have. Ellie's eyes widened.

"What's it for?" She asked, for though she didn't understand what 'makeup' was, she was far too entranced by the unicorn patterning of the box and the sparkly sheen of the glitter lip gloss to be concerned with anything other than how she may use it. The box had _rainbows_ on it, and damn it her young, naive heart had been thoroughly ensnared. Klaus gave her a scandalized look.

"What's it for? My dear, sweet Ellie, it's to add to your face, to make you pretty!" he said. Ellie's face took on a look of surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes!" Klaus said enthusiastically. "Well, it's to make you pretty- _er_ ," he clarified. "After all, we're both already plenty pretty."

"We are?" Ellie sounded so hopeful and astounded, that it made Klaus' heart ache.

"Most definitely!" he crowed. "We're _easily_ the prettiest people around. Well, us and mom. Mom is really pretty, too." Ellie nodded sagely at this, no protests to be made. Grace Hargreeves was truly beautiful.

"Pretty..." Ellie murmured, seeming lost in thought. Klaus watched her for a second, but her face was unreadable.

"Which one should I try first?" He asked, turning the display to give Ellie a better view. She contemplated it for a minute, then pointed out the fluorescent pink one. Klaus dipped his finger in it and rubbed it as delicately as he could over his bottom lip, before rubbing both lips and smacking them like the actresses in the movies did.

Ellie picked out the colors she wanted Klaus to use, until he had as close to a full face of makeup as he could with what they had at their disposal. They were so caught up in what they were doing that they didn't notice the sound of angry, purposeful footsteps making their way to Klaus' door. A sharp, hard rap against the wood made them jolt, silence subsequently washing over them. The duo exchanged looks- who could it be? Grace was never that forceful with her knocks, and rarely did Pogo ever even come to Klaus' door. He supposed it could be Allison, but she, like their mother, was never so loud at the door. Usually she simply called out his name, anyway.

Klaus cautiously opened the door, forgetting for a second that he still had makeup on. It was something that he came to regret, when he opened the door and was greeted by the sight of his father, tall and imposing as always. Klaus was just about ready to have a heart attack- of all the people in the house, why Reginald? What was he even doing out of his office? The only times Klaus ever saw him out and about outside of mealtimes were during group trainings, missions, and when he would call everyone down to the family room to humiliate one of them in front of the others. Klaus has never heard of Reginald coming to any of his children's bedrooms for any reason.

At the sight of his son wearing makeup, Reginald scowled. "Number Four, I was under the impression that it was well past curfew." He snapped. Klaus' back straightened even more, his body starting to ache with how tightly wound it was in his father's presence.

"It is, father." Klaus said, eyes cast downwards.

"Number Four, _look at me._ " Hesitant eyes flicked upwards to meet his father's stony gaze. The man made a noise in the back of his throat, something between a scoff and a sound of disgust that made Klaus flush with shame and hurt. As much as he disliked his father, he was the only one Klaus had. It was natural for a child his age to crave his father's approval, even if he actively stopped caring about the man for years. 

"If you understand this, Number Four, then please explain to me why exactly you are still awake, engaging in all of this _tomfoolery_ no less." Usually a word like 'tomfoolery' would make Klaus laugh, but for some reason, almost anything that came from Reginald was frigid, insipid even. It seemed to Klaus that if Reginald had a superpower, it would be the ability to drain the life and happiness out of everyone and everything around him. Still, his father asked him a question, and he would be very well on his way to getting slapped for not answering.

"I just wanted to try something new, father." He tried to keep his voice as steady as possible, knowing his father wasn't appreciative of meek, shaky voices. Reginald quirked a brow.

" _Really?_ _"_ Oh, no. Klaus wasn't going to like where this was going. " _Well_. If you find your daily timetable so _monotonous_ that you must resort to your own _unsavory_ methods to occupy yourself, then by all means, I would love to give you all sorts of new training to _liven things_ , yes?" Klaus almost choked at Reginald's words, his heart dropping into his stomach. "I will be sure to schedule you all kinds of things that I'd been waiting to do until you were far older and more prepared, but if you _insist_." Before Klaus could get out a single word of protest, his father turned and began to make his way down the hall.

"Oh," he added, turning to face his son. "Be sure to wipe that _mess_ off your face at once, Number Four. It is absolutely unsightly." And with that, Reginald was gone. Klaus' heart constricted as he slunk over to the bathroom to wash off his and Ellie's hard work. And if he hid his tears behind the running water, well, no one would be there to tell.

Ellie was scowling when Klaus came back, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes burned holes into the other end of the hallway, as if staring hard enough would bring Reginald back so she could slap him. When Klaus returned, she caught sight of him and her eyes immediately softened. She followed him back into the room, standing by his bedside as he clambered in.

"He's stupid," she told him earnestly, and Klaus gave her a tentative smile. "Very, very stupid."

"Thanks, Ellie," he said, before bidding her a good night. She returned it before disappearing, the static-y feeling in the air disappearing with her.

* * *

"I wish I could have pretty things." Ellie said, somewhat mournfully. Klaus frowned.

"Why can't you?" He asked, taking in the plain white top and pants combination she seemed to wear all the time. He wondered if ghosts weren't allowed to change their clothes, doomed to an eternity wearing whatever they died in. Ellie pouted.

"Papa." She stated simply, as if that was all the reasoning required in the world. Then again, to her, it probably was. Klaus hummed thoughtfully. For a while, Klaus was confused about her papa. If they were both dead, how did he still have control over her? But then Klaus decided that, since she probably didn't know that she was dead, it might be because she's constantly reliving her memories from life, in some sort of death-rebirth cycle like in the books. But that also didn't explain why she would deviate from the pattern this go around by being friends with Klaus and wanting pretty clothes. If Ellie was dead, there really shouldn't be any reason why she would need any new clothes, or even have access to any. However, Ellie was never a typical ghost. For all he knew, she could know a dead seamstress or something. Maybe they had a mall in the afterlife? Head hurting with possibilities, Klaus figured it was worth a shot.

"Well, you should make your papa get you something nice. You always do what he says, right?" Klaus asked this as if he didn't already know. As much as Ellie didn't seem to like what Papa made her do, she never questioned him or fought. Ellie nodded. "Then ask him if he can get you something pretty, like ribbons or something, because you're always good. It's not fair if you never get anything at all. Even Dad gives us ice cream sometimes. Just don't give in!" Ellie nodded slowly, liking the idea. She wasn't sure if her papa would be very happy to hear her demand things from him, but she figured it couldn't hurt to ask. She could promise to be extra good for him in return.

"Okay." Ellie agreed, and that was that.

It took a lot of begging, and resulted in a lot of crying, and even a few nights spent in the Box, and refusing to work with her Papa. But eventually she got a soft, pink knit sweater that she wore at nearly every opportunity.

* * *

Ellie took to demanding things from the lab fairly quickly, though much of it had to do with Klaus' encouragement. While he was still convinced she was a ghost, he just figured there was some sort of other ghost world where the dead continued on with their not-lives, like a magic ghost town or something. After all, what else could she possibly be but a ghost?

Ellie started collecting things in the form of clothes and accessories, since those were smaller and Ellie had always wanted to play dress-up like Klaus. She eventually asked for toys, mostly stuffed animals and dolls. She was steadily growing bolder, which concerned the scientists- especially Brenner- as they weren't sure how far this would go before it became too much. They weren't even sure where all of this courage was suddenly coming from. Perhaps the only thing that kept them from deciding she wasn't worth the trouble was the years they'd already invested into her, seeing it as too costly to terminate the experiment simply due to some rather unexpected but developmentally normal attitude issues and tantrums. It could also be because other than the sudden interest in material items and the like, Ellie remained fairly complacent. She still followed through with most of their requests very efficiently. Brenner decided that so long as the behavior didn't worsen and she continued to obey him, she would be allowed her simple frivolities.

* * *

Klaus was nine years old and staring longingly as his mom fluttered about in the kitchen. More specifically, he was staring longingly at her outfit. He'd been wanting to try one of those on for a long time. They just looked so pretty. But the last time he brought something like that up, Luther looked at him funny.

"Boys don't wear skirts," he'd said in a somewhat imperious tone. "Only girls do. 'Sides, who'd wanna wear a dumb skirt anyway?"

Klaus did.

He ignored Luther as he continued to ramble on about how "the only clothes we should bother wearing are the ones father gave us, they're the most sensible" because Klaus really couldn't give any less of a shit about what Luther had to say. Klaus was pulled from his memories when he felt Ellie's presence beside him.

"They're just so pretty," Klaus sighed. The one his mom was wearing that day was a pastel pink with cute little black polka dots. He liked to think he'd look good in pastel and polka dots, too. "Aren't they, Ellie?" She nodded absently.

"Do you want one?" She asked. He nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course I do! But I can't get one." He whined.

"Why not?" She asked, frowning. Klaus groaned.

"Because Dad'll be super unhappy."

"So?" His head whipped around to look at her. Even she seemed shocked that she said this, but she continued anyway. "You want it. It's not bad or weird. Just try it." She urged him in the most forceful way an eternally gentle soul could, and he stumbled forward into the kitchen.

"Uh, Mom?" His mother stopped humming and turned to face him.

"Yes, dear?" She asked in her usual honey-sweet voice. Klaus messed with the hem of his uniform top nervously.

"Can I- can I borrow something of yours?"

* * *

A half-hour later and Klaus was standing in front of the mirror, wearing one of his mom's flared 50's skirts, eyes wide in wonder. Wow, this felt- this was- _awesome._

"What do you think?" He asked both women.

"You look so lovely, sweetheart," Grace smiled at him warmly. "Almost better than I do." She joked, and Klaus beamed. He turned to Ellie, who gave him a matching smile.

 "Pretty," she said softly. It was only one word, but it warmed his heart, knowing that this girl of such few words meant it with the utmost sincerity. Klaus turned back to look at himself in the mirror again, twirling a few times as per Grace's request. _Pretty._ The word rang in his head.

_Pretty._

* * *

Of course, Reginald wouldn't allow Klaus to enjoy himself for very long.

About a week or so later, Klaus was wearing another one of his mother's skirts- this one was a pale yellow with these pretty little white flowers, the swishy fabric making them appear as if they were dancing in the wind. His father walked in during Klaus' free time when he was coloring, waiting for Ellie to arrive so he could show her his outfit. Ellie adored cute things, and it was soon discovered that her favorite color was yellow. She especially thought it looked best on Klaus.

 It was then that his father stepped in, shattering Klaus' dreams beneath his professionally polished loafers.

"Number Four," Reginald thundered. Heart-stopping dread settled in the young boy's heart as he immediately dropped his crayons and stood to attention. He stumbled a little as he gained his footing, the adult-sized skirt tripping him up despite having been rolled and pinned up with a belt (also courtesy of his mother). Klaus tried his hardest not to show any emotions, knowing that would displease Reginald even more. It was already bad enough that he'd come home early to find Klaus like this. The boy didn't want to make it any worse. "Number Four, what is the meaning of this?"

"I-" Klaus sucked in a breath, reminding himself not to stutter- Diego was already made an example out of on multiple occasions. "It's a skirt, father." he said as steadily as he could. Reginald frowned.

"I am very aware, Number Four. What I am asking you is why on earth you believe that it is appropriate to wear such a thing?" Before Klaus could get a word out, Reginald steamrolled right over him. "Never mind! Foolish boy, you must live to spite me. This _interest_ of yours shall end here. It is not appropriate for you to be in such attire- as a young man, and even more importantly, as a pillar that is the foundation to the salvation of the world! Go change at once!" Klaus didn't know what even half of those words had meant, but they left such a painful, guilty ache in his chest that made him want to cry and vomit. Before Reginald left, he made sure to make one more dig at his son.

"Number Four, as punishment for your insolence, I would like to see you an hour early tomorrow morning for extra discipline." With that, his father spun on his heel and swiftly left. The second the door clicked shut, Klaus burst into tears, crumbling to the ground in a sobbing heap. He tucked his knees into his chest as best he could, wrapping his arms around them and rocking himself back and forth. Extra discipline was hell, especially if it was early in the morning. It was likely that he would be getting a cane to the back for that entire hour, before being expected to go along with his usual schedule for the rest of that day like his back wasn't completely swollen. A small part of his brain tried to comfort itself, pointing out that it at least wasn't an afternoon beating- discipline scheduled for the afternoon were most certainly always in front of all the other children, in order to maximize the humiliation and also to set an example for the rest.

Klaus felt a sudden thrumming of energy in the air and cracked an eye open, only to see little Ellie glaring hatefully at the door, hackles rising as if the piece of wood was at fault. Her fists were clenched and shaking, and she was only pulled from her doubtlessly violent musings when she heard a soft, "Ellie?" His voice was so fragile that it completely shattered her heart.

Ellie was by his side in an instant, the thrumming of energy dimming into a quiet, familiar hum as she tried to console her best friend. Her hands hovered over his form, likely wishing to reach out but knowing better. Quite bitterly, Klaus wondered what the point of his powers were if he could only speak to ghosts, not touch them or even make others see them. How could it possibly be seen as useful? He wished ghosts could touch things, if only so he could hug Ellie- she'd be one of the few people who would want to in the first place. As if sensing his train of thought, Ellie's furrowed brows knit even tighter.

"Are- are you okay?" Even now, with Klaus chatting with her endlessly and reading countless stories to and with her, Ellie was one of few words, not quite confident enough yet to say what was on her mind.

Idly, Klaus noted that he ought to fix that.

"I'm fine," Klaus murmured through his tear-clogged throat. He left off the "for now", but it was clear that Ellie knew that, too. Her sweet, delicate face twisted in anger.

"He is terrible," she said. Klaus nodded absently. "Like papa." Ah. The mysterious Papa, the one that controlled and tormented Ellie throughout what was likely a very short life. Also likely the cause of her death in the first place. Klaus didn't know much about him- just that, ever since he learned that Ellie could "do things", he'd begun to push Ellie into training in order to expand on it. Klaus didn't know exactly what this training entailed, or even what kind of abilities Ellie might've had, but he could certainly guess. From what he'd gathered, this 'papa' guy was essentially Reginald but with a lab instead of a mansion, and a bunch of eager, heartless scientists to bolster his ego rather than a talking chimp and a robot housewife. In other words, he was absolute shit.

Klaus still remembered the one nightmare he'd had two days ago. Apparently, Ellie might've been able to transfer memories or connect people's consciousnesses, since he'd dreamed of a world of utter blackness and Ellie in a wet-suit begging to get out, running around and wailing in fear. He'd spoken to her, then, had calmed her down as best he could. He even tried to hug her, despite knowing that he couldn't touch ghosts.

Except, since it was likely some kind of dream, it might've been possible. Klaus could've sworn he felt her cold, wet skin underneath his fingertips for the briefest of seconds before everything had gone white and he'd woken up, his best friend nowhere in sight. He'd written it off, however, when he saw her again and, as per usual, went right through her when attempting to make physical contact. Klaus hoped that this 'papa', whoever he was, burned in hell.

Beside him, Ellie was still shaking, filled with rage. Klaus leaned in, as close as he could get without falling through her ghostly form, and whispered, "It's alright, Ellie. I'll be okay." Ellie didn't say anything, just made a choking noise that sounded an awful lot like a sob. Still, if she thought he was lying, she never said anything.

* * *

When the time had come for Klaus to receive "discipline", something strange happened.

Reginald made Klaus lay on his stomach after making his son clearly state what he was getting punished for. His shirt had been taken off for maximum pain, and he was trying to steady his breathing as much as possible. Just as Klaus took a deep breath in, his father's cane came down on his back, letting out a terrible 'crack' sound. Klaus bit his lip to prevent his own screams as much as possible- screaming often made Reginald hit harder, threatening to give Klaus "something to scream about".

"Number Four, I do believe that I had told you to count each hit." Reginald's voice always sent horrible shivers down Klaus' spine, especially when it had _that_ tone. Klaus swallowed thickly.

"One." he managed, and Reginald hummed.

"Do not forget. I will not remind you next time, and should you fail to keep count, I will be forced to give you extra lashes in order to truly make you remember this lesson." His father said this as if it was the most logical step to take. Klaus' stomach churned at the thought of an extended beating.

"Yes, father." He murmured, voice quivering. With a whistle through the air as his only warning, the blows began to rain down on Klaus' back once more. But it was somewhere around the fifteenth hit that something changed. The air suddenly felt charged with a familiar energy, the odd electric feeling being the only warning Klaus had before things hit the fan. Reginald had moved to deal him his sixteenth blow, but the cane never made contact. Klaus looked behind him to find the cane now out of Reginald's grip, lodged into the wall right behind them like a spear. It was so deep in the wall that there was likely no way to pull it out.

Both males were only allowed to internalize this information for a split second before the lights started flickering in and out, and things started flying everywhere. Nearly anything that wasn't bolted down or over twenty pounds (9.1 kg) swirled around frantically like a hurricane. Anything even remotely sharp or pointed found themselves lodged into the walls. Everything glass shattered, including Reginald's monocle, which flew off his face and joined the twister. A haunting, deafening shriek pierced the room, and Klaus clutched his ears to keep them from bleeding. The foundation of the house started groaning, and it was only then that Klaus, in his fear of the house collapsing, opened his eyes to find the source of this terror.

Klaus scanned the room, dimly expecting to find some sort of banshee. He wasn't sure that those existed, but then most people didn't believe in ghosts either, so that didn't say much. Instead of a supernatural horror, however, Klaus found Ellie. She was standing in a corner of the room, eyes like fire scorching Reginald's soul as her hair, once a bright blonde that began turning brown as the years passed, whipped about her like she was actually there. Her nose was bleeding terribly, a snarl curling the corners of her lips and her hands balled into fists. Klaus was frozen in fearful awe, a swirling mix of confusing and conflicting emotions that he had neither the time nor the experience to properly understand. He shook himself from his stupor when Ellie's snarl deepened, and Reginald began slowly lifting into the air.

Bastard he may be, but Reginald Hargreeves was Klaus' only legal guardian, and he was not about to have the police crawling around the house, blaming him for the old man's death. ~~(He also didn't want to lose his siblings. It was unlikely that all seven of them could remain together in the system.)~~

"Ellie!" Klaus wailed. She didn't seem to hear him. "Ellie! Ellie, stop! _Stop!"_ Hearing her best friend beg finally snapped Ellie out of it. Instantly, everything stopped. The hurricane of papers and stray objects fell to the floor with a resonant thud, the house's foundation re-stabilized, and Reginald was plopped very ungracefully onto the ground, knocked unconscious. Ellie's mouth snapped shut, the scream dying along with the homicidal glimmer.

The sudden silence was eerie, the only evidence of anything having happened being the wreckage that remained. With the chaos settled, Klaus noticed that despite being right by Reginald and therefore in the thick of the storm, there was at least a 3-foot radius all around Klaus in which nothing got close to him, the floor being clean of any debris. Ellie met Klaus' eyes, taking in his quivering, frail frame, curled up into himself like the fetal position would protect him. Klaus didn't know what kind of sight he must've made, but he figured it was rather pitiful, since Ellie immediately appeared in front of him, and dropped to her knees like she did the first time they met in the playroom. She stared at him cautiously, wanting more than anything to embrace him but being unable to.

"Ellie," Klaus breathed, unsure of what else to say. Ellie didn't either, and instead scooted closer to him much like last time, as close as she could get without passing through him.

"I-I-I," Ellie swiped the blood off her nose (do ghosts even bleed?), taking that moment to collect herself before trying again. "He hurt you." She said as steadily as she could, and that was that. Klaus, despite the shock and terror pumping in his veins during the moment, felt an odd flood of warmth blossom at the thought of someone caring for him _so damn much_ that seeing him being hurt was justification enough for her to want to attack any aggressors. Before Ellie, he didn't know anyone else who'd have done that for him. The look in her eyes when she stared Klaus' father down- Ellie would've killed him, right then and there, no questions asked. It probably should've scared Klaus, but it didn't. It only made him love his Ellie more.

He just wished he could do the same for her.

"It's okay, Ellie, _thank you_." He rasped, a sound that wrestled a sob from her throat. Her Klaus, her best and only friend, should never look like this, wilted and broken. He was too vibrant, too precious for this. Ellie only wanted to help him, to protect him- _why couldn't she do more for him?_ But then Klaus was shifting to make eye contact with her again, and in the most sincere voice she'd ever heard, he whispered it again.

"Thank you."

* * *

Klaus hadn't seen Ellie in a while.

It was nearly a full year since he'd last seen her, and Klaus, now ten years old, didn't know what to do. Reginald laid off on him for a long time, likely not wanting a repeat of before. Still, he'd looked at Klaus with a very curious glimmer in his eyes that he'd originally seemed to only reserve for Five and Ben, his favorite projects ~~to torture~~. It was a contemplative look that spelled nothing but trouble for Klaus, as the last time the old man looked like that at anyone, Five spent the next few days puking and running an insanely high fever from all the intensive training.

Still, Reginald had yet to make a move. Klaus was unsure if that was good or bad- if he laid off because he believed that the incident was Klaus' doing and was now scared to push him too far, then that would probably be good, until Reginald figured out a way around it. If he was holding back because he was waiting and planning something a lot worse than anything Klaus' dealt with before, that would be very, _very_ bad. Regardless, Klaus tried to make the most of it and delay anything that might come.

But he couldn't take his mind off Ellie.

Where had she gone? After their moment in his father's office, she got a far-away look on her face before telling him very regretfully that she had to leave, and that she'd see him soon. Klaus assumed she'd used up a lot of ghost energy and needed to return to wherever ghosts usually stayed in order to recharge or something. To be entirely honest, he didn't actually know too much about ghosts, because he preferred to be as far away from them as possible. Never before did he regret not knowing about ghosts so much.

A scary, persistent part of his brain kept telling him that this was his fault, that Ellie was driven away because of him, and that she probably couldn't stand to look at him anymore. Not when he'd made her almost kill someone, not when he was so weak and pitiful that a _dead person_ had to go out of their way to save him. He was just too much of a burden, and Ellie left because of him. These words got louder and louder as the days passed, and it became harder to pretend that nothing was wrong. Even some of his more oblivious and distant siblings were starting to cast him concerned glances, and his mom pulled him aside at one point and asked if he was getting sick before running a diagnostic on him. Klaus was eating less, sleeping less, and avoiding people more. If even a dead girl couldn't bother with him anymore, then why should the living? Didn't they just find him annoying? Luther always complained about Klaus' lack of resolution during training. He'd always been the unreliable type. Maybe Luther was right.

And yet, he every time the anxiety and paranoia reared its ugly head, Klaus couldn't help but think back on that day. The fire in Ellie's eyes couldn't be faked or misinterpreted- she was ready to end Reginald Hargreeves' life that very second, and would've done it for Klaus- had even _stopped_ for him, proving that it wasn't (entirely) some personal vendetta against a man who likely reminded her of her despicable waste of space for a Papa. She tried to comfort him afterwards too, because it was clear in that moment that her attention was all his. Ellie couldn't _possibly_ be avoiding him because she suddenly stopped caring. It just wouldn't make any _sense._

Klaus held onto those thoughts for dear life, hoping upon hope that whatever it was had nothing to do with anything he's said or done, and that Ellie was just fine, wherever she was. Even if it didn't add up, even if he had so many _questions_ , he just wanted everything to turn out okay.

Which is, of course, why it didn't.

Because just as Klaus was ready to pretend to go to bed for the thousandth time since Ellie's disappearance, an achingly familiar surge of energy alerted him to a presence that he'd spent the better part of a year yearning for. And yet, when he flung the covers off himself and sprung out of bed to face her, to cry out and tell her how badly he missed her, Klaus found her in the corner of the room and froze.

She was huddled in the farthest, darkest corner of his bedroom, curled in on herself and sobbing quietly. Upon hearing him get up, her head snapped up to face him, tears streaming down her face and eyes wide. She was wearing what looked to be something like hospital clothes, and her hair, once a mass of adorable darkening curls, was completely sheared off like a cancer patient. She was shivering, and all in all it was the most pitiful thing Klaus ever saw.

The room was silent for a moment, neither party wanting to make the first move, until Klaus, desperate from loneliness and the separation, whispered "Ellie?"

The dam broke, and Ellie, sweet, quiet, thoughtful, _powerful_ Ellie burst into tears. She wailed like a someone grieving the loss of everything they ever had. Automatically, Klaus made his way to her and knelt in front of her.

"Oh, Ellie, please, what's wrong? What happened?" He tried his best to keep his voice as quiet and gentle as possible, not only to soothe his dear Ellie but to keep anyone from hearing him. It took a lot of coaxing, but she finally calmed down enough to get some words out after an hour.

"I- Papa, he-" she gulped, trying to get in more air, and Klaus' gut twisted. Whatever that sick old man had done to her, Klaus wanted to repay tenfold. It didn't matter whether or not the man was dead or alive (and wouldn't that be a kicker? If he, a disgrace of a human being, got to live out his life while she, innocent and kind Ellie who only wanted to have nice things and protect her friend, had to die?), Klaus would find a way to ruin his (after)life. And yet, even as he thought this, an overwhelming sense of uselessness washed over him. What could he possibly do? He wasn't like Ellie, who could appear at any moment and apparently had telekinesis that she could rip your throat out with. He couldn't just show up when she needed him the most, or even be there quietly throughout the day like Ellie usually is. He couldn't follow her soul, wherever it went, when it left his side. He was forced to simply wait again and again, day by day, for Ellie to seek him out. Klaus was still moping when Ellie gathered herself enough to calmly finish the rest of her sentence.

"When I left," she said softly, and Klaus's ears pricked. "It was 'cause Papa was calling me. I was levitating, and they noticed, so now they want to know what I can do even more. They want to know if there are things I can do that they don't know about." She was quaking, skin paler than usual. This the most he'd heard her speak at once, despite her definitely knowing how to after years of reading and talking with Klaus. Her hand gingerly patted her bald head. "They keep putting wires here," she murmured. "And they wanted me to kill a cat." Ellie looked at him with wide, searching eyes. 

"What do I do?" She asked, voice so fragile that Klaus' heart simply broke. He wished he knew.

* * *

Klaus' next year had been spent exclusively focused on Ellie. His father, seemingly tired of tiptoeing around him, decided to just put him back onto his usual schedule. None of the other siblings besides Ben were ever very close to him anyway, so they didn't think much of it. Ben himself found it weird, but not worrisome like before, when he tried to spent as much time as possible mother-henning Klaus. Klaus was eating and sleeping again, so Ben decided to leave well enough alone (for now).

Klaus could only be grateful for the lack of constant attention for once, since he wasn't too keen on talking to the others about the things people couldn't see. Ellie was _his_ special little secret, and only his. He would not share his best friend. Because he couldn't protect her directly the way he wanted to, Klaus tried his best to protect Ellie indirectly- namely, by giving her advice, encouraging her, and comforting her- essentially everything he's ever done for Ellie but pulled to the absolute maximum. Ellie would get all the love and attention that she should've gotten, that she _deserved,_ and it would be from Klaus.

As the days went on, Klaus helped Ellie boost her confidence as much as possible as part of the program. He was by no means a healthy or well-adjusted child, but he sure as hell was going to try his best anyways. He knew that in the future, she was going to need as much willpower and self-confidence as she could get, as Klaus also got a low, twisting feeling deep inside that told him Ellie might actually be a lot more alive than he'd previously thought. He wasn't sure how he felt about that yet, seeing as he spent so long believing she was a ghost, but once when Klaus was perusing the library looking for help on how to boost Ellie's confidence, he'd stumbled upon something about astral projection. It would certainly explain why Ellie was so confused when he'd asked her how she died when they were six, and how she slowly aged with him as time went on. If she lived far away, it would also explain why she was able to meet him in his waking hours so frequently- she would likely be asleep while doing this. Honestly, it made so much sense that Klaus felt kinda stupid for not having thought of it earlier.

Still, he knew that if she was still alive, then there was a chance that Klaus could truly help her, not just consoling her or even 'avenging' her like a lot of the angrier ghosts liked to demand. It had the potential to change- perhaps even save- Ellie's life, and he was going to take that chance. In order to do that, he drafted a whole plan, which- if things went well- would end In Ellie running away from that stupid lab that treated her like some sort of experiment more than a human. Unfortunately, Klaus would have to take it slow, since they both agreed that Ellie wasn't at a point where she would ever even dream of doing something like that.

Halfway through the plan, Ellie knew that she no longer had time to wait. Apparently, she'd caught them setting up more cameras some time at night. Ellie shattered them in irritation, and knew that it was a now-or-never type deal.

She chose now.

After an hour and a half of frantically sprinting through the sterile white halls of the Hawkins Energy Lab, shattering cameras and overhead lights as she went, Ellie made it into Hawkins, and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Klaus couldn't have been prouder of his Ellie. She went ahead and took initiative all on her own, bringing the lab down as she made her way out of that hellhole. Of course, this also meant that she would be seeing him less, as she would have to lay low and keep her head down while the lab sent people to pursue her. They weren't happy with the fact that she destroyed many lights and cameras, let alone the security guards that she'd flung against the walls along the way. She needed a very long time to recuperate after that, and had found a dusty little cabin in the middle of the woods that she chose to stay at for the time-being. Normally, someone deciding to hide out in an abandoned cabin in the woods sounded like something straight out of a horror movie to Klaus, but this was Ellie. Smart, indomitable Ellie who could kill people with her mind. As far as he was concerned, whoever would potentially be laying in wait there had better be scared of _her._

He had faith in Ellie.

* * *

Klaus was thirteen when Reginald finally decided to try again.

He didn't know where the old bastard found the patience, but he managed to lay in wait for long enough that Klaus fell into a false sense of quasi-security; that is, he knew that he was in no way safe, but believed that he was at least not in as much danger as he could've been when it came to Reginald.

Klaus cursed his own stupidity as his father dragged him to the mausoleum, droning on about how "the time was finally right" and that he "couldn't coddle him any longer"- a fucking joke if Klaus had ever heard one. The old man, with more strength than a guy with full white hair had any right to have, tossed his supposed son into his own personal hell and slammed the door shut after telling him he would come for Klaus in the morning. As in, the next morning.

The ghosts descended upon him as soon as the daylight faded, shrieking and wailing and cackling like demons. Klaus screamed, begging for Reginald to just _let him out, dammit, he was going to fucking die in there_ -

He curled up into the corner, trying to get as much distance between himself and the dead as possible, begging for the next day to just hurry up. He could've spent anything from seconds to hours in there- it felt like an eternity. Klaus was already feeling faint, dark spots taking over his vision as his head swam. His pleas for help and for the spirits to leave him alone dropped off as he passed out, and wasn't it cruel of the universe to let him dream of Ellie?

She looked to still be in the cabin, having planned on staying there for a year to let things cool down before exploring. She fell in love with it instead and decided to stay. Ellie managed to refurnish it, with things she found when scavenging around the woods and other abandoned lots. Around this time, it was fairly deep into the winter season, so she also had a pilfered winter coat on and a fire going in the living room. She taught herself how to cook a bird and was in the middle of doing that in Klaus' dream. He noted how odd it was, because he'd never actually dreamed of her cabin before. Usually, his dreams of Ellie were about what life would've been like if he were a normal boy, and Ellie was his best friend from school that he hung out with all the time. They'd play dress-up in his room and go downstairs for cookies, specially homemade by his mother (still Grace), before Klaus' dad (a made-up, handsome man) would come home from work and Ellie would stay for dinner.

It was also the first dream in which Klaus was lucid. It was perhaps why the fantasies always worked, and why they always broke his heart when he awoke, since he would believe so sincerely that they were real until his eyes opened. Klaus walked over to Ellie, looking more solid than he'd ever seen her. She felt the extra presence and spun around, anticipating a fight. He noticed that, over the course of the nearly two years, it had grown back in thick, chocolate brown locks that now reached her shoulders. Her eyes widened when she saw him, and she almost burnt her bird.

"Klaus?" She breathed his name like a prayer, and he cracked a smile.

"It's a nice place you got here," he said. She looked him up and down, before poking him. He didn't know if she was more or less surprised when her finger went right through him.

"Are you real?" Her voice was quiet.

"I believe so," Klaus said, "I guess I just missed you so much, my mind had to see you." Ellie let out a soft sound, something like a laugh or maybe a whine. Just then, a random shriek come out of nowhere, sounding like it was right by Klaus' ear. He winced, and Ellie immediately panicked.

"What's wrong? What happened?" She fretted.

"Didn't you hear that?" Klaus asked incredulously. Ellie shook her head in confusion. Klaus could feel himself leaving, perhaps waking up, and he could tell that his friend knew as well. He looked down at his body and saw it literally fading away. Huh.

Was he dying?

"I guess I gotta leave," he chuckled humorlessly. Dammit, was he not even allowed a nice dream? Ellie stepped forward as if to stop him.

"No, wait," she pleaded, but Klaus could already feel an odd tugging deep within him, dragging him away from the one person who cared about him the most. It felt like getting reeled out of a tunnel, or going on a roller coaster ride backwards. He could feel Ellie's familiar energy fade the further he got, until it randomly shot after him. When he awoke, he was greeted once more by the ghosts, driven to madness by their untimely ends and the centuries spent trapped in within the same stone walls.

"Leave me alone," he moaned, more tired than when he passed out. And yet the ghosts converged around him, tightening the circle and looming over him, their screeches getting louder and louder. _"Leave me alone!"_ Klaus yelled. A blue light emanated from his fist, which was clutching his knee. A buzz of static that Klaus came to love filled the room, Ellie's opaque form screaming and- much like in Reginald's office all those years ago- sending a wave of energy shoving all the ghosts away and back into their tombs. The light faded from Klaus' hand, and yet instead of disappearing Ellie's body only solidified. Standing in the middle of the room, scanning it with flashing eyes, Ellie, short for Elise, formerly Eleven, looked like a superhero, here to explode ghost energy to smithereens if they so much as looked at her best friend funny.

Satisfied with her work, her posture sagged as she turned to face the only person who's ever cared for her. The scene was unfortunately familiar, far too reminiscent of the day Reginald punished him for a skirt, Klaus' skin far too pale and eyes too empty. There were bags under his eyes, and his teeth chattered. Ellie's heart twisted in her chest at the sight, making her way over to him. When she was right by him, she paused for a moment, as if somehow thinking there was any possible way that Klaus wasn't ecstatic to see her, to know she was here in more than just spirit. Finally abandoning the ridiculous notion, she swooped down and, like they've always wanted, held him tight to her chest, a silent promise between the two of them to never let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly was just going to end it with the "He had faith in Ellie" line since I'm lazy, but I asked my sister and she was like "no do the happy ending one" so if you enjoyed the way it turned out, you better thank her for that :)  
> Next chapter is a part two for the first chapter because everyone seems to want one and I came up with an actual viable idea lol


	3. Lost Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five never understood regret. He certainly does now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to update!! I've been juggling multiple one-shots and I just couldn't decide which one to focus on- so I decided I'd drop them and write an entirely different one! Please enjoy!

Five never understood regret. It wasn't as if he was the kind of person to spout pretty words about how 'everything happens for a reason' and how that's why they shouldn't bother with regret or dwelling on the past. Rather, it was that mistakes or not, people always made their own choices. Whether or not it turned out the way they wanted didn't matter to Five, because at the end of the day he believed it was your own fault if the decisions you make end up backfiring. There was no point regretting it, especially if it was no one's fault but your own.

That was, of course, until he made the biggest mistake of his life.

Because one sunny, unassuming day, Five decides that Reginald Hargreeves can go fuck himself since Five is going to time travel if it's the last thing he does.

~~(If he knew how close to true those words would've come, perhaps he'd never have gone through with it.)~~

~~(However, Reginald can still go fuck himself.)~~

He demands Reginald let him try, and upon being put down again for the millionth time, Five ignores Ben's call and Vanya's pleading eyes as he runs out the door, never to be seen again. ~~The sound of Ben's voice and Vanya's big brown eyes would haunt him for the rest of his days.~~

He runs as fast as he can, never stopping to think or look back or contemplate the possible outcomes of the situation, because in Five's mind there can only _be_ one outcome; he'll time travel, and then come back and rub it in Reginald's face, because this is the one thing he's wanted for years and he's going to make it count- Reginald can't stop him from exploring his powers on his own terms.

He concentrates on the feeling of tension inside his palms, tugging at it and reeling it in. The familiar sensation of teleportation washes over him, but this time he pushes it further, going beyond 'where' and stretching towards 'when'. The tightening in his hands yanks him forward, and within a fraction of a second he's faced with the numbing December cold. A crooked grin spreads across his lips, and as he continues walking down the block, he time-jumps again, greeted with the blessed warmth of springtime.

Five is euphoric, the rush of power that fills him upon pushing himself forward through the timeline giving him a kind of high. One last pulse, he decides, and pushes forward again, ready to greet the future. The smile wipes off his face when, rather than a busy street, he is met with absolutely nothing.

Ash rains down from the sky, and everything from as far as his eye can see is a singular puff of breath away from collapsing in on itself. There isn't a single soul alive, and fires rage on in various corners, wrestling the oxygen from Five's lungs.

No, he thinks, beyond dismayed. No, this couldn't happen. What was this? There was no way this could just happen- how would it? Five refuses to believe what's in front of his own eyes, for the sake of his own mind. It has to be some sort of sick joke, he decides, or maybe this is some time far, far into the future, when he and the rest of his siblings have long since grown old and grey and died, when no one that he knows or loves can be caught in the crossfire. Maybe, this is an isolated incident- surely, the whole _world_ can't be like this, right? Surely, if it _is_ real, it's through some kind of terrible tragedy that turns their home into a ghost town, and just a few miles away, there are still people carrying on with their lives normally. And maybe his siblings are even there- assuming this is even within their lifetime.

Clinging to this tiny bit of hope, he puts all that he can into time-jumping, pulling back instead of forwards this time. It roars to life in his veins like an engine, until it sputters and dies out like a beaten old car, Five's hope dying with it.

He calls out for his family, desperation overriding reason, and begins trudging through the wasteland. He learns that the apocalypse isn't, in fact, centuries into the future, but rather twenty-seven years. He wanders more, the scared young boy in him aching to return to something familiar, something like home, and is taught the meaning of regret when he finds the corpses of his siblings staring back up at him.

Their eyes will never stop haunting him, but what will haunt him more is the fact that he never found Ben or Vanya's body.

Instead, he finds a book, the photo of a young girl on the cover so clear and familiar that he scrambles for it like a starving man for food, drinking in the sight of his sister. He hungrily reads it word for word, and it quickly becomes his holy grail, the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel as he struggles desperately to find a way home, clawing at the walls of time and space in a wretched bid to escape this burning landscape.

It takes six months for Five's powers to come back, if only slightly, and yet it is more a curse disguised as a blessing than anything else.

He is too hasty, too impatient, too _terrified_ of spending even one more second in this hell on earth that he forces himself past his own limits, stretching and clawing for that light at the end of the tunnel that he swears is just within his reach. Five can feel pain shooting up his spine, fire licking at his nerves as he pushes himself further than he knows he should. Finally, he feels something akin to a tear in the universe, and his body caving in. A long-forgotten sense of euphoria rushes over him- finally, he'd be home.

* * *

When he lands, it is silent and cold. He barely manages to register that fact before he opens his eyes and realizes he is very, _very_ far from home.

It is just as empty, just as eerily silent as the fiery hell he'd just come from. The only actual difference being the bone-chilling cold and all-consuming darkness, much unlike the other apocalypse in which you couldn't escape the sun's wrath, and something deep inside of him shatters.

This is it, he decides. This is the end, and there's no going back. He'll never see his siblings again, would never feel a gentle breeze on his skin or hear Vanya play her violin or see Ben's annoyed scowl when Klaus did something stupid. He's going to waste away in this wintry apocalypse, covered in ash, completely and utterly alone.

If Five hadn't already learned the meaning of regret, he'd have learned right then and there, the very second that he thinks 'it can't get much worse than this.' Because it does.

There's a soft rustling noise, so swift and quiet that Five thinks he's simply gone senile, before a monster bursts forth from the shadows. It roars at Five, its breath smelling as foul and rotten as every other decaying thing in this world. The sound echoes all around him like a concert, a doomsday song spelling death for Five Hargreeves, who'd never had a chance to live.

The monster lunges, but Five barely tenses, already accepting his fate, though admittedly shutting his eyes in preparation. However, the gruesome death never comes. Out of nowhere, there's a yell, followed by an odd 'thud' sound. The boy opens his eyes tentatively, and is greeted with the sight of- dear God- another young boy, roughly Five's own age, who'd clearly lobbed a rock at the petal-faced monster. It turns its ugly head to face him, and the boy locks eyes with Five for a brief moment.

"Run!" He shouts, before taking off in the opposite direction. Five follows suit, sprinting towards an unknown destination with all the energy he has left. He doesn't bother looking behind him, taking the time the monster spends deliberating on who to chase as the blessing that it is and disappearing into the woods.

Five isn't foolish enough to believe that there is only one monster- after all, if it's alive, then it was likely born from another living creature- which means that there are probably a bunch of other petal-faces just like it. The thought brings a chill down his spine that has nothing to do with the cold. As he climbs a nearby tree in the hopes of being concealed from the view of any predators, he hears rustling.

Dammit, he thinks. Just when he'd somewhat gotten a new lease on life, this monster is going to take it from him all over again.

However, what emerges from the underbrush isn't a petal-face, but rather the boy from earlier who'd risked his own life to save Five's. The boy makes eye contact with him, before silently gesturing for Five to come down. Not quite trusting his own powers yet, Five climbs down as swiftly and stealthily as possible, then dashes over to him. Without a word, the other boy snatches Five's wrist and drags him further into the forest, taking seemingly random twists and turns until they reach a makeshift shelter labeled 'Castle Byers'.

They dive inside, panting as quietly as they can. When they deem themselves to be in the clear, Five takes the time to analyze the boy. He's around his age, though Five guesses the other is a bit younger than him, with a slighter frame and pale skin. His teeth are chattering slightly as he moves to face Five, looking up at him with wide doe eyes.

"Hey," he whispers, as if he believes that speaking too loud will attract the monsters- which might actually be true. "You okay?" Five nods hesitantly. What is 'okay' for him anymore?

"You?" The other boy seems to have the same dilemma, and he shrugs noncommittally.

"More or less," he settles, before adding, "I'm Will, by the way."

"Five."

Will blinks. "What?"

"Five," Five repeats. "It's my name." Will is surprised by this, but shakes it off.

"Nice to meet you Five," he tells him.

"So, how'd you end up here? Where is _here_ , anyway?" Five asks. He receives a shrug in return, and it's then that he learns that Will is just as clueless as Five. It's been something like a few hours since he's arrived, though Will admits that he can't be sure- there aren't any clocks nearby, and his watch broke within the first hour of arriving.

However, another disturbing thing that Five learns- as he speaks to Will, he realizes his new companion uses a lot of old terminology and references, and upon more recent things being brought up in conversation, only responds with confusion. A sinking feeling comes to his gut, until he finally musters the courage to ask.

"Will, this is going to sound a little funny, but what year is it?" Will frowns, before slowly answering.

"1983?" He poses it as a question, only growing more concerned at Five's stricken look. "Why? What's- what year do you think it is?"

"Will, I'm from 2003," he tells him, watching his expression carefully. Will's face is blank for a while, mind refusing to compute.

"But- that's-" he splutters, wide eyes widening further. "Are you- you're saying I've been here for, what, twenty years? I can't- but I'm still twelve!" Five, not one for physical contact, sacrifices his own comfort to calm Will down, gripping his wrist tightly.

"I'm not saying that," which is true, since Five isn't even sure what he _is_ saying.

"But how else could you be from 2003? Does time go slower here? Does time pass at _all_ here?"

"I'm saying I'm from the future," Five hisses, trying to keep his voice down. Despite his hysteria, Will tries to do the same, not willing to be found by the monster because of his own mental breakdown. "Listen, before I was here, I was in 2019, alright?" Will opens his mouth to say something, but Five talks over him, needing to get the words out. "I can time travel, and I was testing it out for the first time. I succeeded, and made it as far as 2019 before getting stuck, since I couldn't go back. I stayed for six months, before finally being able to go backwards. But something went wrong, and now I'm here. Meaning I'm not sure how far back I am. For all we know, this could be some pocket dimension or whatever. I just _don't know."_

Will picks apart Five's expression in silence, no longer sure how to react. Finally, he simply says "okay," and that's that. After all, he's been dragged down to what felt like the pits of hell by some petal-faced demon and hunted for who knows how long. What's one more level of insanity? Flesh-eating flower monsters? Sure. Alternate dimensions? Absolutely. Time travel? Definitely. Why the hell not? Just add them all into the bunch!

If he tries making sense of it all, he'll probably lose it more than he already has. So he moves on, and that's that. Throughout the next week, Five and Will learn how to survive. Or, Will learns, and Five simply applies and updates the knowledge he's already had from the apocalypse of 2019. He tells Will about that, while they're hiding in burrows and simply need confirmation that they aren't alone with the monsters. How he'd slogged through heat and desolation, and how there was nothing and no one around in any sense of the word.

Will feels like that's almost worse, as Five explains the numbness and helplessness that overwhelmed him one night. At least the monsters are motivation to keep moving, in some morbid sense of the word. Will, despite not having time travel powers, at least holds the hope that he'll somehow make it home one day- he was dragged here, meaning there's probably a way back, if only he can find it.

They learn to take comfort in each other, knowing better than to be too loud and instead substituting words with physical contact, reminding themselves that they're in it together. Five isn't alone anymore, and never before did he think he'd enjoy the warmth of another nearly as much as he does after being chucked into two separate apocalypses.

Will sometimes sings when he's scared, as a way to fill the silence, and other times Five explains how time travel works. They converse for hours about the logistics and debate about all sorts of science-related topics, and in their loneliest moments, usually right before bed, they tell stories about their families. Will is no stranger to terrible fathers and loving mothers, Five gathers, though he also admits that his mother isn't a high-tech robot. Five wishes Reginald took Lonnie's example and fucked off, but dreams will always be just that.

They're going to make it, Five decides, when he wakes up to switch shifts with Will one night. He watches the other curl up on the floor of Castle Byers, the shivers wracking his body gradually decreasing when Five pulls the blanket over him and puts Will's head in his lap. Come hell or high water, they have each other now, and they're going to make it.


	4. My Friends and I, We Got A Lot of Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because these kids aren't okay, and they deserve something beautiful.
> 
> (Also known as; getting better takes time.)

"Hey, remember, you've got this." Five gave Vanya a long, silent stare. The sincerity and hope in his sister's words were clear, which is why he bit back the scoff that threatened to erupt from his throat.

"I know," he told her, instead. She gave him a tentative smile, which Five returned, before he slung his backpack over his shoulder and hopped out of the car. Five examined the schoolyard, watching the students filing in like zombies. Not for the first time, he deeply regretted allowing his family to coerce him into going to public school. He was a grown man, even if he certainly didn't look like it, and he wasn't all that keen on being forced to pretend he was an actual child.

However, his siblings (as much as he hated to admit it) were right when they reminded him that he, according to the government, didn't exist past 2002. In fact, it could be argued that he didn't exist to them at all, considering his actual birth date would reveal that he's supposed to be about thirty, when he's very clearly (physically) fourteen. It would also be incredibly hard to convince anyone to hire a fourteen-year-old boy without any form of documentation on him, let alone any degrees, and even harder to convince a university to accept a student without any school records or even a real ID.

Therefore, it seemed to only logical thing to do was to join a public school (as those were easier to fool than most other institutions) and earn a diploma, before finally being able to get on with his adult life.

(His siblings, of course, knew better than to mention one of the biggest reasons why they liked this plan- to help him reintegrate into society and build a life outside of stopping the apocalypse. They instead claimed it was to make for a more solid paper trail than home-schooling, as public schools would have yearbooks and the like to prove his presence.)

Still, it didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

He pulled out his schedule from his pocket, examining it closely. It grated on him that he had to take Biology of all things, but the school counselor had explained to him that it was a required course, so it was better to simply get it over with so he could take classes he actually wanted to take later.

In fact, there were a few things on his schedule that he wasn't happy about- PE, Health, World History- plenty of things that Five could do without. Hell, Five had been involved in half of the historical events they were going over in class. He wasn't sure there was anything to learn from this.

But he promised Vanya he would try, and dammit, he refused to fail something as simple as goddamn high school.

* * *

It was around PE. He was putting away his gym clothes, preparing to bolt from the smelly locker room when it happened.

A couple lockers down, there was a bit of a commotion. Five wasn't sure how it started, but the next thing he knew there were two kids ganging up on a third, much smaller boy, who seemed to be torn between wanting to curl up and wait it out and trying to escape.

Five wanted to ignore it. Planned to, even. And yet, when he purposefully slammed his locker shut and turned to leave, he somehow found himself punching one of the larger boys in the face. The kid fell to the ground, and Five kicked the other one's feet out from under him, sending him face-first to the floor. When he turned his attention to the third boy, he was still taking the fetal position, likely not having noticed what transpired. Five cleared his throat awkwardly.

"You okay?" The boy flinched instinctively at the sound of his voice, before hesitantly looking up at him. Five was never one for comfort, so he hoped he wasn't looking for any. The best he could do was offer him his hand, which he did.

"Uh, y-yeah. Thanks for- uh, thanks for saving me," The brunet murmured, and Five nodded. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, in which Five examined him as he squirmed uncomfortably under the former assassin's gaze. Suddenly, the boy gathered enough courage to speak up.

"You're, uh, in some of my classes, right? I- I've seen you a few times already." He stuck his hand out nervously, as if expecting to be rejected. "I'm Will," the boy introduced. Five took his hand and shook it.

"I'm Quinn," Five said, inwardly grimacing at his fake name.

"Nice to meet you, Quinn," Will smiled softly. Still, it only confirmed how strange the name felt to Five. Admittedly, it could've been much worse, especially when comparing them to his siblings' suggestions, but it still felt wrong and uncomfortable. He definitely preferred his initial choice, but his siblings were adamant that he choose something else.

* * *

Diego blinked. "What?"

"Quinctus," Five repeated. "I've decided that that would be my fake name. It's Latin for five, so it will be easier for me to remember." There was utter silence, before Klaus burst out laughing.

"Oh, Five, my dear brother," he said, once he finally got most of his giggles under control, "I'm saying this because I love you, but you're going to get bullied." Five scowled. Before he could say anything back, Vanya spoke up.

"How about we think of something else? Like, anything? Anything at all." She said this with a voice filled with desperation and eyes wider than the moon she almost blew up the year before. "How about the list Allison gave you? Did you like any of those?"

"I think Aidan fits really well," Allison suggested. "I worked with a kid named Aidan a few years ago, and he looked a lot like you. I think it would suit you."

"Yeah, Aidan sounds like a good name! What about that?" Vanya looked at him hopefully, but if anything it irritated him more.

"Aidan is a pretentious name," Five snapped. "Like some kid with coiffed hair." Klaus hummed.

"It does sound like a fuckboy," Klaus conceded, just as Diego said, "Well, you _are_ pretentious."

Five scowled. "I am not choosing the name Aidan. Absolutely not."

"What about Nikola, like Nikola Tesla? That's a good, science-y name," Allison suggested. Five mulled it over for a moment. Just as it seemed he was ready to consider it over Quinctus, Klaus clapped in delight.

"Oooh! That's so adorable! And then you could go by Nicky for short!"

"No. Definitely not. Words cannot express how much I abhor this suggestion." Allison pinched Klaus' arm, and he pouted.

"But Nicky _is_ adorable."

"Well, I'm not adorable!" The silence and blank stares from all of his siblings only served to anger him more, for he growled and slammed his mug down. "You know what? Forget this. It's Quinctus now, and I'm leaving." The rest of his siblings protested rather loudly at this, with Klaus reminding him that the other kids would take turns shoving him into lockers.

"Hey, hey, wait a second, okay? Just wait. Hear me out." Surprisingly, it was Luther who jumped in, stepping in front of his smallest brother to keep him from escaping. "How about we all just try to meet each other in the middle, huh? Is there a name close to Quittis that sounds a little more normal?"

"Quinctus," Five corrected.

"Yes, that."

"Well, Benny boy says Quincy sounds pretty close," Klaus piped up from his spot on the kitchen table. "'You could even try Quinn for short', he says." Everyone watched as Five thought it over, before he finally relented.

"Fine, that works," he said, and his siblings all cheered.

"Five won't get his ass kicked!" Klaus exclaimed, while Diego said,

"He sounds even more pretentious!"

Vanya smiled softly and told him she was happy he liked the name, and that it suited him quite well. Allison grumbled that Aidan was still a cuter name, but that she was glad he wasn't going to sound like the old man he actually was. Luther gave him an awkward smile and told Five he was glad that Five liked his and Ben's idea. Five, meanwhile, still thought Quinctus suited him best, but conceded that perhaps it wasn't casual enough to go under the radar.

* * *

When they stepped out of the locker rooms, there was a girl waiting for Will. He ran up to her in greeting.

"Jane, this is Quinn." Five was taken aback by Will introducing him to her, seeing as they weren't likely to see each other again. "Quinn, this is my sister Jane." The two looked nothing alike, but being one of seven adopted children kept him from dwelling on it for long.

She stared at him intensely as they shook hands, and Five would've been intimidated if he'd been anyone else. "Nice to meet you, Jane."

"Nice to meet you too." Her tone said otherwise, but he said nothing of it. As luck would have it, he and Jane ended up having the same seventh period class, though they didn't interact during the lesson.

* * *

Will, Five soon realized, was a literary genius. He could write pieces like it was child's play, and got almost complete 100s on assignments. Even more surprising than that was how well he got along with the boy. It, of course, took some effort on Five's part, trying to keep his biting comments and off-putting attitude at a minimum, but he actually found it a lot easier to do that around Will than everyone else.

Something about him made it hard to be snappy or rude, and Will was unexpectedly sarcastic and intelligent. A low pang of disappointment struck Five when the bell rang and he had to go to his next class.

* * *

It was Biology, and Dr. Parker had explained to them that they would be doing a project that they'd need a partner for. Before Five even had time to contemplate what he would do, the universe seemed to make a decision for him.

"Hey," Will greeted Five as he slid into the seat beside him. "Would you mind partnering up with me?" He looked awfully hopeful, and Five was beginning to wonder if the boy was using his puppy dog eyes on purpose.

"I don't see why not," Five shrugged. Hopefully, Will would prove to be as good at science as he was at literature.

"Cool. Which part do you wanna work on first?"

Will, indeed, proved to be nearly as good at science as he was at literature, and they got their work done incredibly quickly. "Do you want to sit with me and my sister at lunch?" Will offered, before shrinking back when he realized how excited he sounded. "Uh, o-only if you want. Of course, y-you don't have to sit with me at all, I-I was just suggesting-"

Will's stammering was somewhat pitiful, Five decided, so much so that he felt the desire to spare him his anxiety and interjected, "Sure, I'll sit with you." The bell rang and he stood up, packing his things away into his bag.

Five didn't know why he was being so amiable, but he figured that there wasn't any inherent reason for him to be anything less than polite with Will, who proved to be a capable and even valuable asset. Still, the usual annoyance that came with speaking to people in general wasn't there, or at least not to any noticeable degree. Five let it be, seeing as it could only benefit him, and followed the boy to the cafeteria.

Five had only been there for a short time, and he already hated the lunch block. It was loud and crowded, filled with obnoxious teenagers and the messes they left. The food was also disgusting, which was why he brought his own after his first public school lunch. Five certainly wasn't picky about the foods he ate, but he liked to think he was above salads that looked rubbery and bread hard enough to be used as a blunt weapon.

Unsurprisingly, Jane was waiting for them at their designated spot. She quirked a brow when she noticed Five trailing behind her brother, but said nothing of it. "Jane, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Quinn to sit with us today." If Will was trying to hide the giddiness in his voice, he was doing a terrible job of it.

She hummed noncommittally.

"So, I never saw you before yesterday. I hope you don't mind me asking, but did you just move in?" Will asked.

"No, actually, I've lived here for a while now, but I've been home schooled up until this year." Will's eyes were lit with curiosity.

"Really? What's that like?" Five proceeded to spin his rehearsed tale, of how he lived in the city for nearly his entire life but never got out much, his family electing to home-school him until they decided it would be in his best interest to learn how to socialize more. It was a tale consisting almost entirely of truth, which was how the best lies were created. He went out of his way to avoid information regarding his family, including his last name, any possible siblings, and his parents. No need to divulge too much, but he knew he couldn't give them nothing without them picking up on it.

They knew he had a mother, and that he had at least one sister who was older than him. Five refrained from so much as uttering the word 'father', or anything more specific than those two things. Eventually, they slipped into much easier conversation, mundane things like their opinions on their classes and teachers.

"How was school? Did you make any new friends today?" Vanya asked when she picked him up later that day. He definitely couldn't wait until he could legally drive again. He paused at Vanya's question.

"It was fine," he settled on saying. "And no, I haven't."

After all, he and Will weren't really friends. He just got along with him, that's all.

* * *

The Byers-Hopper household was more like a home than any Five had ever encountered.

Of course, it wasn't as if he went over to people's houses for class projects often, but he'd assassinated his fair share of targets within the comfort of their own beds before, and none of their homes ever screamed 'lived-in' nearly as much as Will's house.

It was a simple city apartment, but its interior seemed to radiate warmth, the walls a soft warm beige, with creamy carpet flooring and plain white curtains. All of the couches and seats were soft and worn in a way that brought about images of nights spent sitting together, talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. The tables were sturdy wood and the lamps let out a dimmed yellow light, and there was a faint aroma that Five couldn't place that made the tension in his body ease just the slightest bit.

Will's mother, Joyce, let him in, telling him that her son was in the bathroom and would be with him shortly. She encouraged him to sit on the sofa while she went to notify her son. She seemed quite excited to see that her son had brought someone over, unable to fully fight the smile on her face that somewhat betrayed her enthusiasm. What for, Five couldn't fathom, but he chalked it up to some weird "Mom Thing", one of the many unexplained phenomena that occurred when encountering a mother.

Will tumbled down the hall a few minutes later, sending Five a sheepish look as he tried to ignore his giddy mom. He led Five to his room, where most of the supplies were set up. "Sorry about her," Will said, embarrassed, "she gets like that whenever I bring people over." Five shrugged it off, and they set to work immediately.

Halfway into their work, there was the sound of scratching at Will's door. The boy got up to answer it, letting in a fluffy little cat that wasted no time in slinking into the room. It sat patiently by the chair until its owner was back in his seat before taking its rightful spot on his lap.

"This is Leia. Don't mind her, she can just be a little needy sometimes." The cat purred as if to emphasize Will's point, and Five was a lot more captivated by the creature than he probably should've been.

"It's fine," he murmured, still staring at the furry pet. Will eyed him carefully.

"Do you... want to pet her?" He asked slowly. Five had to force himself to pull his eyes away from Leia and train them on Will. He'd never actually pet a cat before, or any pet for that matter. Reginald never allowed animals besides Pogo in the house (though it admittedly felt strange categorizing Pogo as a simple 'animal'), and it wasn't as if he'd ever gotten enough time to explore before the disaster that was the rest of his life. He bit the inside of his cheek as subtly as possible.

"Can... Can I?" He felt stupid for being this nervous about a simple cat. It wasn't like Will knew why Five was responding in this manner, either, so it was likely a lot weirder through his point of view, and Five was _supposed_ to be acting as normal as possible.

"Yeah, sure," Will scooped Leia up into his arms and then practically poured her into Five's lap. "Here. She's a Ragdoll so she loves affection." At Five's look of confusion, Will clarified, "That's the name of the breed, Ragdoll. They like being cuddled." As if rehearsed, Leia nuzzled further into Five, who refused to admit that he melted at the sight.

For the remainder of his visit, Five kept Leia perched on his lap. Leia, on her part, didn't seem the slightest bit phased.

* * *

Two weeks into Five's new school career (and about four months into the school year), and Five found himself hanging out with Will at nearly every opportunity. It wasn't even like he was going out of his way to talk to him, either. He just so happened to share almost half of his classes with the boy, which would make him a lot more suspicious (read: paranoid) if Will wasn't practically a puppy in human form.

The thing was, Will didn't even seem to notice it. His wide eyes, eagerness, and tiny frame made him resemble a deer or other fuzzy animal, which honestly might've been why Five was so comfortable around him. Will, on the other hand, was so determined to befriend Five, which perplexed the Hargreeves boy at first. He chalked it up to it being because of the locker room incident, and guessed that Will was trying to ward off anyone else by keeping close, but that didn't really fit with how he behaved. He never asked where Five learned to fight, he seemed interested in hanging out with him even where people wouldn't be paying attention, and he seemed almost nervous whenever he asked the former assassin to do anything with him, as if he were expecting rejection.

It was like Will genuinely wanted to be friends with Five, without any ulterior motives, and it absolutely perplexed him. Why would anyone go out of their way to befriend him if they weren't trying to get something from him?

It got to the point that he could barely contain his curiosity anymore, and decided to ask the first person he could find- in this instance, it was Luther. There was no enlightenment, however, as instead his largest brother simply made a strange whining noise in the back of his throat and changed the subject, asking for a hug as if that would make Five forget.

"What? Why do you want a hug?" Five's nose scrunched at the request, but instead of backing off, Luther simply inched closer, arms stretched.

"I just- I just really need to hug you, Five, please," Luther begged, eyes wide and sad like the puppy he truly was inside. "Please, Five, just come here," he moved even closer, and Five backed away.

"What? No! Go ask Allison or something, she throws those around like it's some type of currency." Luther remained adamant, shaking his head.

"It's gotta be you, Five. I need to give you a hug, I really do." Five would've warped out of the room, but something in Luther's watery voice rooted his feet into the ground, body stiffening as his brother finally swooped down and wrapped him up in the stranglehold he called a 'hug'. It was a foreign feeling for Five, having arms wrapped around him that weren't trying to kill him, and he didn't know what to do- especially since Luther was basically carrying him now, and his feet were forced to dangle uselessly in the air.

"Luther- what-" he choked, but his brother was determined to absorb him via osmosis. The blond man was muttering something, though Five could only make out tiny snippets like 'telling Allison' and 'poor boy' and 'needs love'. Finally, Five managed to harvest enough air to force out the words, "Can't breathe," which got Luther to quickly set him down and pat his shoulder.

"Sorry," he apologized awkwardly. He watched as Five furiously tried to regain any amount of dignity by readjusting his ruffled clothes. "I just-" he pulled Five into another hug, gaining a squawk from him as the genetically modified man tucked Five's head into his chest (as he elected to crouch this time to prevent further strangulation). Five wrestled his way out of Luther's grip, spluttering angrily and teleporting to his room. His family was _insane,_ and he should've known better than to ask them such basic questions.

* * *

His body knew what was happening before his mind did.

Five found himself heading to the nearest, most secluded area he could find, and curled up in the smallest corner. He tucked his knees into his chest, struggling to breathe. How pathetic, he thought. He was a grown man and he couldn't even handle going to public school for less than a month. So much for being a hardened assassin. What would everyone think of him now? He could feel himself spiraling, his vision swimming and darkening as his pulse quickened. He thought he was going to pass out.

Hell, he vaguely entertained the idea of dying, right then and there, from the stress and fear and anxiety of anything and everything. The bell sounded like gunshots, footsteps like a death march. Soft whispering and excited exclamations were translated into threats and people begging for their lives. It was all just too much. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there were hands on his shoulders, encouraging him to tuck his head between his knees. Dimly, he could hear someone's voice, muffled by his own legs pressed against his ears. He couldn't tell who it was, but he focused on it all the same, knowing instinctively that he needed it more than anything.

He clung to it like an anchor, and the longer he listened, the more he was able to distinguish the words being said. "It's okay," they said, "just breathe... -okay... -nice, deep breaths, just like that... Quinn, it's 12:30, and you're in the boys' bathroom, at school." Who was Quinn? Was he Quinn? He didn't think he knew anymore, but he found the voice too comforting to ignore. "You're safe, Quinn. You're safe." They continued speaking in this manner, and Five was slowly but surely brought back into the present. He took another steady breath before looking up to face whoever witnessed him in such a state.

Will's brown doe eyes watched him with concern as Five was gradually reeled back into reality. His hands were still firmly grasping Five's, helping to ground the boy to the world. "Do you feel any better?" He asked softly. Five nodded tentatively, absolutely mortified that he'd been observed in such a pitiful state. "Do you need to go wait here a second? Or to go home?" Five shook his head adamantly.

He wasn't going to allow anyone else to witness him like this, nor quit before the day was over like a _child._ Will stared at him for a moment, almost searching for something on Five's face, before suddenly saying, "You know, needing a break doesn't make you weak. It just makes you human." He didn't say anything else, and neither did Five. Instead, Will helped him stand, cleaned him up, and walked out the door with him.

Five never brought it up again, but he carried a deep level of gratitude for the boy ever since.

* * *

"Y'know, we don't have your number."

Five blinked. "My number?"

"Yeah," Will said, "your phone number. I think it'd help if we did." Five awkwardly took out his phone, completely unsure how to use it. His siblings already entered their numbers themselves before they gave it to him, and it wasn't as if he knew anybody else that he'd exchange numbers with.

Luckily, Will pulled it from his hand and put in his and Jane's numbers for him, then shot himself a text so he could add Five to his contacts.

"I'm so going to flood you with memes." Five didn't bother asking what memes were, sure that he would regret ever asking. Instead, he simply said,

"I might have to throw out my phone, then."

* * *

Five stormed over to Will angrily.

"What the _hell_ was that?" He yelled. Will gave him the most innocent look he could manage.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"Bullshit," Five spat. At this point, they were gaining some attention from the people around them, but neither of them noticed. Five whipped out his phone and shoved the screen in Will's face. "What the flying _fuck_ is this, and why did you think it was appropriate to send it to me?" Will grinned.

"Oh, you mean the sleep paralysis demon meme? Yeah it's great, isn't it?"

"This is a _meme?"_ Five asked incredulously. Will nodded, no longer able to hold back the splitting grin on his face. Five slowly lowered his phone. "The children of today are insane," he murmured. Will choked on his laughter.

* * *

"We should start a group chat," Jane decided. Will nodded.

"Sounds good. What should we name it?" He whipped out his phone, already forming the chat. Five blinked.

"What's a group chat?" If they were surprised by the seemingly dumb question, they didn't show it.

"It's where you text each other as a group, so everyone in the group can see each others texts in one spot. We've got one with our friends back home, and one with our older brother." Five vaguely recalled Will telling him that they had another sibling named Jonathan, who went to NYU for photography and filming. He stayed on campus mostly, but came to visit on holidays and most weekends.

"What should we call it?" Will wondered aloud. Without hesitation, Jane immediately said,

"The Goonies." Will snorted.

"You've become far more invested in eighties movies than I'd anticipated."

"You're the one who sat me down and inducted me the first night I moved in. Are you saying you regret your decision?"

"Never."

"What are the Goonies?" This time, both siblings looked at him in utter shock.

"What blasphemy," Will whispered. "My friend, have you never had the joys of late twentieth century cinematic masterpieces?" He leaned in and said, "Do you know E.T.? Gremlins? Star Wars?" Five turned red with embarrassment and irritation. He shouldn't have said anything, he realized. Not if they were going to act like he was stupid.

Will seemed to notice what was happening, and eased up after a sharp nudge from Jane.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly, "I'm super invested in movies, so I get a little carried away sometimes. But still, we should totally watch those movies together some time! They're true classics, I tell you, it's really a shame that you didn't see them sooner. Better late than never, though. Besides, movies are always better with friends." He grinned good-naturedly at Five.

"So," Jane drawled, "are we naming the group chat 'The Goonies' or not?"

* * *

Five knew it was only a matter of time before his siblings found out about Will and Jane.

The reveal came in the form of Will sending him a text, asking if he wanted to go to the movies with him on Friday. It wasn't even a big deal, but they acted like it was.

"Oh, Five, that's fantastic!" Five winced as he dodged Allison's hug. He hated being correct. His siblings were most definitely over enthusiastic.

"Yeah, who knew the old man had it in him?" Klaus said, grinning. Five scowled back, ignoring the thinly-veiled sincerity in Klaus' words.

"Shut up, Klaus," he snapped.

"I'm really happy for you, Five." Vanya's voice was still impossibly soft, but far more confident than Five had ever heard it. He settled his scowl into a simple purse of his lips.

"It's probably just 'cause he's bored. It's not like we're suddenly best friends or anything," he pointed out, though it didn't seem to matter to his siblings.

"Still, it's a step in the right direction," Allison insisted, finally getting her hug by yanking on her smaller brother's arm and immediately entrapping him in her embrace. Five rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he dismissed, teleporting out of her grasp and into his room.

* * *

It all happened so quickly.

One minute, they were safely crossing the street, not a vehicle in sight, and the next, there was a truck only a few feet away. Will had gone slightly ahead of the group, walking backwards as he spoke to his friends, while Jane tried to convince him that he was about to bump into someone or fall into potholes. The light on the crosswalk still said it was their turn to walk across the street, and yet there was still a truck barreling towards Will at higher speeds than was probably allowed.

Five hadn't even thought before he acted, warping over to Will and moving them both to the other side of the street. He'd immediately bombarded his friend with questions of how he was feeling, mixed with demands to know what the actual fuck he thought he was doing, just wandering off ahead of them like that, did he want to get himself killed? Eventually Will managed to quiet him after loudly and repeatedly insisting that he was perfectly fine, which is when they actually got around the to fact that, yes, Five had powers.

"Quinn," Will said softly, "can you-? I mean, did you know you could-?" Five frowned. He knew something like this might happen.

"Yes," he answered simply. Nothing more, nothing less, and then he watched Will's expression carefully. He went from shocked, to confused, to, oddly enough, understanding and determination all in a matter of seconds.

"We won't tell anyone," he promised with much conviction. Five blinked, taken off guard.

"Would be kind of hypocritical if we did," Jane said from behind them. Five turned, only to find that Jane had actually stopped the truck. It was floating in midair, its wheels still spinning a little, and its driver freaking the fuck out. Jane's nose started trickling blood around then, though it seemed to be a common occurrence for her since she didn't even bother wiping it away.

"Huh," Five said.

* * *

"Wanna come over to my house?" Will asked. Five frowned.

"What for?" He didn't remember there being a project or test anytime soon. Or at least, not one worth studying for. Apparently Will understood his train of thought, since he rolled his eyes.

"To hang out. You know, like most people do? You don't need to be working to spend time with your friends. Also, you haven't watched any of the classics, which is simply unacceptable." Maybe it was the dry tone, or the way he casually used the word 'friends' to describe them, but Five found himself getting a bit pink in the face as he snapped,

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Before later adding, "What time should I be over?"

* * *

"Which movie is this?" Five watched as Will drove through his piles of DVDs. Apparently, Will was quite the movie buff, as he held a rather large collection.

"If it's not Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, then it's probably the original Star Wars movie," Jane said from the doorway. She held a large popcorn bowl in her arms and plopped herself right on the couch. "He's a big sci-fi and fantasy nerd."

"One, you're just as obsessed with Harry Potter as I am, _nerd,_ two, there's more than one original Star Wars movie, hence why it's called a  _trilogy,_ and three, Star Wars is my religion and you're being a heretic. Don't you dare insult the works of the gods." Jane rolled her eyes and mouthed, 'I told you so' to Five, just as Will pulled out whatever movie he was looking for. "Don't act like I don't know you just did that, J." Will apparently had eyes on the back of his head, since he still hadn't turned around yet he intrinsically knew what his sister was up to.

"Never tried to hide it, Willy." Will turned around for the sole purpose of making a face at his sister, who stuck her tongue out at him. "Picked out what you wanted yet?" She asked, as if they hadn't just been bickering.

"Yes," Will said proudly, holding out his movie of choice. It was a VHS, rather than the DVDs that made up half the collection. "We're watching the very first Star Wars movie ever made!" Jane groaned.

"Boo," she whined, throwing a kernel of popcorn at her brother. He swatted it away.

"Your heresy is completely ineffective, you lose ten points! Nothing will rain on my Indoctrination Parade!" With that, he popped the tape in, snatched the remote before his sister could, and slid right in between the two of them on the couch. He shut up his sister's half-hearted complaints by revealing the stash of candy he hid beneath the couch. "No speaking til it's over!"

* * *

“He’s right inside.” Vanya was a bit confused by Joyce’s whispering, following the older woman into the house. When she stepped into the living room, she soon understood why.

All three of the kids were sprawled out on the floor of the living room, the credits of the last movie they watched still rolling on the TV. Their limbs were tangled with each others’ as well as the blankets, and at least one of them was snoring softly. There were stray bits of popcorn and candy wrappers strewn both over and around them. When Jane shifted, Five’s brows furrowed briefly before relaxing, and Will’s nose twitched.

Vanya practically melted at the sight of her brother’s peaceful face. It was almost hard to believe he was technically an adult when he was like this. It was as if all of the world’s problems disappeared, the weight on his thin, tiny shoulders lifting away for just a few hours. Vanya hoped that one day, Five would start looking this free in the waking world, too.

“I was going to call, but you were already on your way.” Joyce’s hushed whisper broke Vanya from her thoughts. The older woman gave her a conspiratorial smile before saying, “Let’s let them sleep, yeah?” Vanya agreed, telling Joyce she’d come to pick her brother up the next morning. She left the Byers-Hopper household feeling ten times lighter than when she first came.

* * *

"You should get a cat," Will said suddenly. Five blinked.

"What?"

"You should get a cat," he repeated. "Y'know, since you love mine so much." Five did, indeed, adore Leia, who was actually laying in his lap at that very moment, purring contently as he stroked her fur. "They can also help with your emotions. Keeping you calm and happy and all that. That's why we got Leia, actually. Fully-trained therapy pets are usually only found in, like, care centers, and personal ones are usually trained by their owners, and that's a lot of work, time, and even money, but normal pets can work well too. Leia's an ordinary pet." Will punctuated this by playing with Leia's tail a little, chuckling when she kicked out slightly with a hind leg.

Five mulled it over for a bit. "We'll see," he said eventually.

* * *

"I still don't know how you guys managed to convince me to join space club _and_ art club," Five sighed. "I don't even like art." Jane smiled.

"Because you love us and the power of Will's puppy dog eyes knows no bounds." And, well, it wasn't like he could really argue with that.

"You know, we should form a club," Will said after a moment. Five scoffed.

"As if we don't already see each other enough."

"We don't," Will told him without hesitation. Jane mulled it over.

"It could work," she admitted. Five looked at her incredulously.

"You guys literally live together, and we all share most of our classes. How much more time could you guys possibly spend together before you get tired of each other?" They stared at him blankly, and he rolled his eyes. "Well, what the hell would the club even be for? You know you can't just have a club without at least a documented purpose. The school won't allow it."

"Isn't it obvious? We're gonna be a movie club!"

"Absolutely not," Five said immediately. Unfortunately for him, it was at exactly the same time as Jane's loud and enthusiastic agreement, so they didn't actually hear him. When he went to repeat himself, they were already too swept up in the idea. He sighed, long since learning to pick his battles.

"What should we call it?" Will furrowed his brows as he brainstormed. Jane gasped.

"We could use a movie reference! Like the Loser's Club! Or the Breakfast Club! Or Dumbledore's Army!" Will lit up at this, and Five groaned.

"We should make t-shirts!" Jane's sudden exclamation was met with Will's enthusiastic agreement, and Five fully accepted his fate, pulling out a notebook and pen for his friends.

* * *

"C'mon," Will said, stretching his hand out to Five. It said something about his progress that the former assassin willingly took it, allowing his friend to help him climb the stone wall. Jane levitated the icebox onto the top then pulled herself up with ease, tucking a knee into her chest and settling in quickly. Once they were all comfortable, they passed around the food and drinks, and watched as the sun gradually went down.

The stars glittered like they were diamonds, and it was during moments like this that Five truly felt the full scope of everything that could've been lost. There were no simple, quiet nights like this in the apocalypse. Everything was silent, but the fires raged so strong and the clouds of ashes were so thick that the entire sky had been obscured. He vaguely wondered if, had there not been a blanket of smog over the planet, he would've noticed the moon was missing, or if it had even ended that way the first time around.

The air was so fresh and the sky so clear that it was almost like a completely different planet. It didn't feel possible that all of this would've perished in the flames, and for probably the first time since the End of Times had been averted, Five finally, truly felt like it had all actually been worth it.

"The world ended," he blurted out suddenly. "There was fire everywhere and everyone was dead and- and I was stuck," he barely gave himself any time to breathe before adding, "I was stuck there. Alone. I had to bury my family." And before he had time to regret anything or even register what he just said, Will piped up.

"I got dragged into another dimension by a monster that hunted me down and stuck its monster baby eggs down my throat." And before he had a chance to register  _that,_ Jane added to the confession circle.

"I was kidnapped as a baby and raised as a human experiment in a lab until I opened a dimensional portal and escaped and almost died." They sat in silence for a moment, before Five suddenly said,

"So basically, we're all fucked." It was like a dam had broken, and suddenly they were all breathless with laughter. Jane leaned forward as she cackled, nearly falling off the edge of the wall, which made Will and Five laugh even harder. Nothing was even particularly amusing, but it was, they supposed, a harmless form of catharsis, less of a cure than it was a momentary salve.

* * *

"No way," Will laughed, "Quinctus? Holy shit." Five scowled.

"Yes, Quinctus. It's Latin for five, so I figured it worked well enough. I honestly still don't care much for a 'real' name, though."

"So, what should we call you, then? Quinn? Quincy? Five?"

"Five," Five told him. "For all intents and purposes regarding legal papers, Quincy is my name, but I still am and always will be Five."

 "Five it is, then," Will said, smiling. They continued walking in companionable silence.

* * *

His gaze zeroed in on the inky black ball of pure fluff curled up in the corner. As if sensing his staring, the ball twitched before unfurling and staring back. The cat, as it turned out to be, remained laying lazily on the floor, not making a single sound as its tail swished about. Its big yellow eyes stared at him almost imploringly, as if waiting for him to do something. No doubt, if it had eyebrows, one of them would be raised. "I want this one," Five said suddenly, still in a staring contest with the cat.

"That little guy is Cookie. We've estimated that he's about two years old. He's pretty lazy, but he can be a bit of a rascal." Five completely ignored the name, because what kind of respectable cat would go by 'Cookie'? Clearly, the feline's imploring stare must've been a cry for help.

"His name is Gibbs, short for Josiah Willard Gibbs," Five decided. The cat stared at him quietly, before letting out a soft mew.

Ashley chuckled. "Well, we've already got him responding to Cookie, so it might take a while to get him used to Gibbs. But if that's what you really want-"

"His name is Gibbs," Five said firmly. The woman reached into the little pen, pulling out Gibbs and handing him to Five. Five pulled his new friend to his chest, feeling the soft rumbling of Gibbs' purrs.

* * *

Gibbs was a cheeky little shit.

He was, as the woman at the animal shelter said, quite lazy most days, usually just napping in random places and occasionally staring at people judgmentally from afar. However, whenever he remembered that he was alive, Gibbs would go out of his way to make sure everyone who crossed his path would rue the day.

He'd stare at people dead in the eye before knocking over things, run in between their legs aggressively as they came down the stairs, leap onto people's heads from various hidden high places, and then demand attention by clawing at their legs before hissing when they tried to pick him up or pet him.

Five absolutely loved him.

They were like a match made in heaven, honestly. They had nearly identical judgemental stares, loved holing themselves up in hidden little burrows (though Five was a lot less inclined to curl up in a cabinet than Gibbs), and hissed angrily when others tried to shower them in physical affection. In fact, Five was the only one allowed to regularly touch and handle Gibbs, who would simply blink slowly up at the boy in response to being held.

He was by no means a therapy pet, but he seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to Five's anxiety and panic. It was almost odd how he knew what to do in those situations, but everyone in the house was far too grateful to question it.

If he helped Five through his hard times, then the little terror could have the run of the whole place if he wanted.

* * *

"What're you doing for break?"

"My family's probably going to insist that we all do some weird family bonding activity," Five said, after some thought. "Why?"

"Jonathan's been moping about being away from his girlfriend, so he's thinking of flying down to see her over break, and asked me and Jane if we wanted to tag along. Since Nancy's gonna be visiting family for the holiday, we'd all be going back to Hawkins, so we'd be hanging out with our old friends."

Five hummed noncommittally. "What're they like, anyway?"

"My other friends?" When Five nodded, Will pondered how to describe them for a moment. Finally, he settled on showing him their Dungeons and Dragons characters as a reference, and elaborating.

"Right, so Dustin's our bard, and he really likes snacks, so he's always bringing way more than we need to the campaigns, even though we always stay for dinner later anyways. He's really smart though, and super nice, though he panics really easily and sometimes he can get carried away when he's excited about something. Then there's Lucas, who's basically the opposite..."

It seemed that Will was glad to be able to talk about his friends from Hawkins, whom he referred to often as 'The Party'. Five was content with knowing Will was happy, but there was still some strange ball of _something_ that coiled in his stomach, knowing Will had this group of friends that he loved more than anything waiting for him somewhere far away, who knew Will better than Five ever could.

Especially 'Mike', who was apparently Will's first friend ever, all the way back to since they were three or four. Five wasn't trying to compete or anything, but the little green monster still reared its head inside of him.

Will, too perceptive for his own good, eventually says, "I'm going to admit, Mike was my first and best friend. And I didn't think that anything would ever change that, and technically nothing did. But we did have a bit of a falling out before I left. We made up, but it hasn't really felt the same since. Don't get me wrong, I love them all a lot. We've been through too much together for me to not love them. They're great, and they were my first and only friends ever. But I gotta tell you something." He leaned into Five's space a little, more than most others were allowed to, before murmuring, "You're my best friend, too."

Five would forever deny for the rest of his life that he'd ever gotten red or flustered the way Will claimed he did. In fact, after clobbering his friend with a pillow, he'd deny the conversation ever happened at all.

* * *

"They never gave me a name. They took the one I already had, actually. They took it and made me a tool, and now I'm branded forever as a reminder, and I can never completely get my life back. I'll always wonder what it would've been like if Terry got to keep me, if I learned to deal with my abilities in my own way, on my own time, with someone who'd love and support me, and made normal friends at a normal school in a normal town that didn't have flesh-eating monsters that stole kids from their families. But I can only ever wonder, because it's been too long and they've done too much. I can't say I don't like where I am now, but I wish I didn't have to deal with what I did just to get here." Jane took a swig of her Cola.

"I've never really had a name. Not one that counted as a name, anyway. Reginald didn't value human life enough to bother, so I've always just had a number. It became my own though, and I think he really hated that, in the end, because even when everyone else got their own names and tried to act like they weren't children being raised as weapons, he could always cut them deep just by reminding them that they were first and foremost just another number, not even human to him. But I wouldn't let him, and instead I turned a number into a name, and he couldn't cut me like he did everyone else. And I think he hated that a lot."

There was silence, a near-telepathic agreement to not further ruminate or discuss the information that had just been freely given. But they weren't done yet, evidenced by the way Jane took a deep breath before her next words.

"I've killed people. Lots of them. More than I knew how to count, at the time. They were after me, so everyone always tells me it was justified, but their blood is still on my hands. They can never go home to their families again because of me. They took me from mine, so I took them from theirs, and now I feel like I'm not any better than they were."

"I didn't stay there, in the apocalypse. I was there for a long time, but not forever. Felt like it, but it wasn't. I got picked up. But there was a price, since there always is. They made me kill people. A bunch of 'em. Anybody they didn't like, anybody that did what they weren't supposed to or got in the way. And most of the time, they didn't know that they ever did anything at all. There was no fighting back, no self-defense. They were usually innocent and unarmed and even unaware. But I still did it, because if I didn't I could never go home. I took them from their families so I could get mine back."

Five and Jane took their eyes off the stars for a moment in favor of meeting each other's gaze. A second of silence, before they clinked their soda cans together.

"We're going to hell, probably," Five murmured, "or at least I am." Jane scoffed.

"I definitely am. Those portals were open because of me. Maybe they'll let me bring Leia." Jane chugged the rest of her drink like it was beer, and Five snorted.

* * *

"Out of all the things that you could've chosen to hide as personal baggage, I can't believe 'technically older than you look' is what you went with."

"Well, how was I supposed to know how you guys would take the fact that I'm _technically_ old enough to be your grandfather?"

"About as well as when we told you I was adopted and that my real mom is stuck in a mental hospital because a doctor fried her brains out."

"Well, obviously I'd take it well, I'm also adopted! Literally  _everyone_ in my family is adopted! And, hell, before this year, Klaus' favorite past time was overdosing and getting a free ride to the inner city in an ambulance. How could I possibly take that information negatively?"

"The point still stands," Jane insisted. "Especially after I told you that I joined a gang once." Five rolled his eyes.

"You were there for three days and then your Hero Complex kicked in and compelled you to save the planet. That also doesn't count."

Jane huffed, a tiny smile playing at the corners of her lips. “Dummy,” she said, resorting to childish attempts to goad him. Fortunately for her, Five was just as childish. He sniffed petulantly.

“Am not. You're just not willing to admit defeat.” Five made a show of ignoring the shit-eating grin on Will’s face.

“Are too.”

"Am  _not."_

_"Are too."_

Will, knowing it would be best to nip this in the bud, cut them off with a loud, “Okay, okay, let’s get this show on the road before Five turns 58 again.” They all piled into the car.

"Ready to go?" Jonathan asked, watching them from the rear view mirror.

"Yeah," Will confirmed, Jane giving a thumbs up beside him. Jonathan pulled out of the driveway and drove them to the mall.

* * *

"I got a cat," Five said as a substitute for a greeting. Will grinned, leaning forward in his seat.

"Really? When? What kind? What's their name?"

Five pulled out his phone, something he was still getting used to using, and showed his friend a picture of Gibbs. "We got him on Sunday. He's a rescue, so they're not actually sure what he is, but he's pitch black and tiny and maybe around a year old, and his name is Gibbs." Will cooed at the slightly blurry image of a black cat with glowing eyes. "He hates everyone so he's perfect."

Will laughed. "I really wanna see him in person now! He's so cute!" Five mulled it over for a bit, knowing the amount of danger that would come with doing what he was about to do.

"You can if you want," Five said. "You and Jane can come over on the weekend." Will looked surprised. Five didn't like to talk much about his family. Not that he didn't love them, but it was obvious from what he did share that their relationship, while getting better, was still very complicated.

"You sure?" Will asked, not wanting to do anything to make Five uncomfortable. There was admittedly some hesitation, but Five nodded vehemently. Will smiled. "That'd be really cool. What time should we come over?"

* * *

The doorbell rang, and Allison, being the only one on the first floor, opened the door to find a pair of teenagers standing there. Just as she was about to tell them they probably had the wrong house, or that she wasn't interested in their fundraiser, the boy smiled brightly and said, "Hello, is Five Hargreeves here?" Allison froze, before trying as subtly as possible to block entrance to the rest of the house with her body. There were few people alive that knew Five by the name, and fewer so who knew where he lived.

Was this another trick by the Commission? Were they using kids to do their dirty work now? Couldn't they just give her and her family a fucking break?

Before she could say anything, there was a familiar blue glow and quiet fizzing noise from behind her, and she turned to see the boy in question. He was dressed casually, something that was usually quite the rarity but was steadily becoming normal now that he'd started school and couldn't be bothered to put on the Academy uniform anymore. Curled up in his arms like the angel he secretly wasn't was Gibbs, the occasional tail flick being the only indicator that the cat was even alive.

Allison didn't have time to say anything before Five waltzed over to the doorway, asking, "Are my friends here yet?"

"Wha-"

"Five!" The boy at the door smiled brightly at the sound of Five's voice, standing on the tips of his toes in an attempt to see over Allison. She awkwardly moved out of the way when Five tried wiggling in between her and the entrance, and the boy immediately stepped inside.

"Oh my God, is that him?" He asked, eyes wide in adoration as he stared at Gibbs. "He's so cute!" The girl made a soft cooing sound when the cat in question mewed softly.

"Yes, this is Gibbs," Five proudly brandished his new cat. "Short for Josiah Willard Gibbs. He seems to be in a very good mood today, so you guys might be allowed to touch him at some point." Indeed, Gibbs seemed to be particularly content, purring loudly and leaning as far into Five's hold as he possibly could. "Anyways, do come in. I didn't invite you guys over just to make you stand in the doorway."

Five closed the door behind them as they toed off their shoes. The entire time, Allison was still watching silently in utter shock. She finally got her words back when the trio started ascending the stairs.

"Five, who are they?" He stared at her as if he hadn't expected such a question.

"These are my friends," he said simply, as if it were a common occurrence for him to even have friends, let alone be willing to bring them over. "Didn't I tell you they were coming over?" Allison could only manage to shake her head. She knew that he exchanged numbers with two kids a while before, but despite her highest hopes, he'd insisted they were barely friends. Five blinked, surprised.

"Oh." The boy- he must've been Will (Allison took great care to memorize his name, in case this day ever came)- laughed at his companion's reaction.

"Wow, Five, the years must be catching up to you. You sure you don't have Alzheimer's?" Five scowled, but there was less heat in it than Allison had seen in any of the glares he'd ever given.

"Don't be rude to your elders, especially when they can withhold cat privileges."

Will whined. "Five, don't be like that! That's not fair!" He chased Allison's brother up the stairs.

"Should've thought of that before you sassed me, young man. Jane doesn't treat me like this."

"I mean, I do, but not when I know you'll hold it against me," The girl, who only could've been Jane, said cheekily. Five nodded.

"You've learned well. Good behavior only counts when there is some sort of reward or benefit to be gained." Will whined some more before they disappeared down the hall in the direction of Five's room. Allison stood there utterly gobsmacked for a minute longer, still unable to fully comprehend what had just happened.

Eventually Klaus strolled around the corner chatting idly with Ben. He paused when he saw standing there doing nothing. "Is something wrong, sister dear? Is this some strange new acting exercise you're trying out?"

She finally shook herself out of it, managing to tell him, "Five has friends." Klaus paused.

"What?" This time, Allison turned to look at him squarely.

"Five made friends at school and invited them over." Klaus gaped at this, before barking out a laugh.

"No way, are they here now?" Allison nodded.

"They're in his room, I think." And that was quite the cherry on top, considering Five barely tolerated his own siblings so much as standing in the doorway. Klaus seemed to have the same thought, because he laughed even harder and clapped his hands.

"This is too good! I've gotta go see this!" He cackled as he pranced up the stairs, too quick for Allison to warn him. Not that he would've listened, of course, since that was never a part of Klaus' vocabulary. Eventually, Allison shook her head and left. If Five murdered Klaus in front of his new friends, that wasn't going to be her problem.

* * *

Jane cooed at Gibbs as he pawed at the fuzzy key chain on her phone. "He's so cute."

"I know," Five said, matter-of-factly. "Can you believe that those shelter people originally named him Cookie? It's an absolute crime. He's far too dignified for that." Will couldn't fight the smile on his face at Five's blatant adoration for his cat. Gibbs was apparently temperamental, but it seemed like he was particularly tolerant of Will and Jane.

"Well, it was probably to make him seem more appealing to customers," Will explained, "y'know, since half their demographic is families with small kids." Five scoffed.

"It was demeaning is what it was," he insisted. "He was practically crying out for help when I first saw him." The conversation continued for a while, moving onto topics besides his new feline companion. They were talking about what they should do the next weekend when the door burst open, revealing a lanky, pale man in a skirt and fuzzy sweater.

"So they _are_ real!" He cried. "Ben, he actually has friends!"

Distantly, in the library, Luther jolted at the sound of thuds and screaming coming from the upstairs. He paused, contemplating it for a moment, before deciding that some things were better left not getting involved in.

* * *

"I know this seems a little weird, but thank you so much." Vanya continued to pour the hot water into their mugs. Will blinked.

"What for?" He asked, a slight smile still on his face.

"For being friends with Five, and sticking with him. I know he can probably be difficult sometimes, but he's just been through so much, you know? He's still going through so much, and having some good friends can be a real big help." She handed them their mugs of hot cocoa, which they took quite gratefully.

"It's nothing," Will insisted, "We like being friends with him. We actually didn't have any friends here til he came around, so we're also really grateful."

"He's really helped us too," Jane added. "He's a grump, but he's _our_ grump." Vanya gave her a tiny smile.

"He really is, isn't he?" They shared a laugh. "Still, thank you guys. He definitely seems to be getting better with you around."

 "Can I have that in writing?" Jane asked. "Y'know, in case he ever tries to tell me I'm annoying again." Will rolled his eyes and elbowed his sister in the side.

"Enough," he admonished, "he'd probably eat the paper whole just to spite you, anyway." Prior experience made this something none of them could disagree with. 

* * *

Five's phone dinged suddenly, and he unlocked it to find a new message from Will. _Can I come over?_ It asked. Five didn't hesitate in his response.

_Sure._

Will's reply was almost instant.

_Good, because I'm already at the door._

Five leaned out the window, and sure enough, Will was looking back up at him from the wet pavement. He waved enthusiastically when he noticed the other boy peering at him from above. Five sighed in a far more put-upon manner than he frankly had any right to, before warping to his friend and bringing him inside.

"Any particular reason why you wanted to bother me this fine day?" The time-traveler plopped himself down on his chair while Will took the bed.

"Jane's got therapy today, Jonathan's studying for exams, and mom and Hop are at work."

"Has it ever occurred to you that I might also be busy?" Will stared at his friend for a while, before breaking out into a grin.

"Yeah, but never too busy for me." Five hated that Will was right, which showed in the way that he didn't correct him. "Can I draw you?" It was only then that Five noticed the messenger bag slung over one of Will's bony shoulders. Five quirked a brow.

"I was under the impression that this was a choice of pure impulse. Have you actually planned something for once?" Will snorted.

"Of course not. I just carry these around whenever, just in case I find something good to draw." He slipped the bag off. "Just so happened that I found the perfect thing." He smiled cheekily at Five, who remained unimpressed.

"If this is your way of flattering me into sitting still for thirty hours so you can draw me, it's not working."

"Who said that's what I was doing? Maybe I meant it. Besides, I haven't drawn anything in way too long, and I'm really looking for an excuse." Five sighed, but ultimately caved.

"What do you want me to do? Just sit here, like some kind of mugshot?"

Will gestured vaguely with his hands while he spoke. "Just, be natural, or something. You don't need to pose, just keep doing whatever you were doing, provided you don't move too much." Five hesitated to go back to work, but eventually got back into the rhythm of his equations. He was planning on writing and publishing an official paper for university, so that he could get his Ph.D and legally be a doctor.

After a few hours, with the drizzle ceasing and leaving behind only a blanket of grey clouds, Will suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, let's go out."

It took Five a moment to get around to speaking, trying to wrap up his sentence before he could pull himself out of his work again. "Where? You got any ideas?"

Will hummed thoughtfully. "Nope, I just want to eat something now, and I want you to come with. We can make one of your siblings take us to Griddy's or something. Didn't you say their donuts were good?" Five nodded.

"Griddy's is a shithole, but it's a good one. Their shakes aren't too bad, either."

And so they stepped out for donuts and shakes, forgoing asking anyone to drop them off in favor of walking, embracing the grey skies and the dewy, heavy smell of rain. When they arrived, they ordered their food and sat down.

"We should make this a thing," Will decided. Five crinkled his brows.

"Cryptid-themed pastry shop?" Five asked, recalling their most recent conversation.

"No- well, yes, but that's not what I meant. I meant we should make coming here our thing, y'know? Like Fridays or every other Saturday, we should all come here and hang out, get some donuts and milkshakes and just talk. I used to do that every now and then at Hawkins. There was a place called Benny's Burgers, and sometimes Benny would give us a discount if we were short on change. I've always wanted to do that more often, find a nice restaurant and hang out there with friends. It's not even something that special, but the idea of having a regular hangout spot just seems cool, y'know?" Will took a sip of his strawberry shake.

Five didn't know. He'd never thought of such an idea before, had no reason to. Besides, didn't they already have a special spot at the stone walls in the abandoned schoolyard? Still, despite spending nearly all of his free time with Will and Jane, he couldn't find himself able to begrudge Will of this desire. He'd explore anything with them if they wanted.

"Sure," Five said. Will's pleased little smile definitely made it worth it.

* * *

Eventually, they made their way back to Five's house. It was only when he caught sight of the sketchbook left on his bed that Five remembered Will was supposed to be drawing him.

"Did you finish yet?" He asked, gesturing towards the sketchbook.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Will said, somewhat distracted as he analyzed his own drawing. He closed it before Five could catch a proper glimpse of it. "Yeah, I finished most of it."

"Are you gonna show it to me?" Will seemed reluctant for whatever reason.

"Maybe some other time," he said, already trying to shove it in his bag. Five frowned.

"Will, you know you can draw. Your skill is incredible, actually. So why are you suddenly so uncomfortable with showing me a drawing of myself? Do I look that bad in it?"

Will blushed at the praise, before blurting out a rushed, "No!" When Five asked him if he looked bad. The brunet cleared his throat after the outburst. "No, it doesn't look bad. It's fine, really. It's just," Will paused, unable to come up with the words. Five stared at him imploringly, and it wasn't long before the boy sighed and caved.

"Fine," he murmured, "here. There are still certain parts left that I'll fix, but it might as well be done." He handed Five the sketchbook, who then flipped through until he could see the page. It was then that Five got an idea of what might've made his best friend reluctant to show him the image.

It was hyper-realistic, almost like something a professional would draw after a long time and a hefty price. There were admittedly some parts that were a bit off, but one wouldn't notice it in the face of the entire image. But neither of those points were what made Will hide the sketch.

The drawing was incredibly detailed and filled to the brim with emotions. Will's dedication and thoughts were painstakingly etched into every line and curve, shaping the portrait into something more than a simple sketch.

It was, for lack of better phrasing, breathtakingly beautiful. The message that seemed to be poured into every inch of the page was loud and clear, and suddenly Five forgot how to breathe.

"Oh," he whispered, eyes still not leaving the drawing. "Oh."

"Um, yeah. It's... yeah." Words seemed to have failed Will for the first time in his life, leaving him as unprepared as Five. Finally, Five lowered the sketchbook to look at his friend.

"So," he said slowly. Will was picking at a loose string on the hem of his sweater's sleeve. He bit his bottom lip as he tried to avoid Five's gaze. "Am I allowed to keep this, or?"

Will let out a breathless laugh. "It's all yours, if you want it."

"Trust me, I do."

* * *

They still had their ups and downs, their good days and bad days and worse days, but this time, they were confident that they were going to be fine. They weren't alone anymore. They could all lean on each other. It was a long road that they were going to have to walk, but they were going to walk it side by side. And that in itself was enough for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to just make it Will and Five, but I really wanted Joyce to marry Hopper and obviously that means El's coming along for the ride too, so I just decided to have her there but not as much of a focus. I do love a good trio though, lol.


End file.
